Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: After the baseball game, Sonic's gang starts to take up soccer- known to the rest of the "worlds" as football. To Mario's gang, it's called Striking! This time around, Sonic's team challenges Mario's, and they're really confident, unlike last time...
1. The Big Kick Off

**What do you know? Posted right on time! Happy birthday, mom (not that she's reading this). ^^ Anyway, yeah, this is the -somewhat- sequel to Mario vs Sonic in a Game of Baseball, which you don't necessarily have to read (though I'd like you to...) unless you want the winner of that game spoiled by this one. Of course, if you already have read it or just don't care who won the last one, by all means read on!**

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Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!

Prologue: The Big Kick-off!

"All right Knuckles. I'm going to fiercely kick in all my shots, and your goalie skills better be up to standards!" Shadow ordered, bouncing a soccer ball from knee to knee. Knuckles stood crouched in the goalie net, heels on the line, ready to catch each of Shadow's fast balls. "No one will stop the ultimate!"

Shadow instantly kicked the ball he was bouncing, aiming it at the right part of the net. Knuckles caught it easy. Shadow growled a little as Tails supplied him with another ball. Shadow made a motion for Tails to keep them coming and aimed the ball straight at Knuckles. Knuckles held up his hands and caught the ball again. After that, it was an onslaught of soccer balls, but the knucklehead managed to block them all. Of course it took a whole lot of spinning and moving, which meant Knuckles' reflexes came in very handy. Shadow roared and made hard contact with another innocent ball, and it practically lit up in flames. Knuckles jerked to the middle of the net and blocked it with his head.

"Piece of cake!" Knuckles smirked. Shadow stopped a rolling ball with his foot and gritted his teeth.

"Bet'cha can't block _this_ ball!" called a new voice, entering the conversation.

Tails tossed one up in the air, and suddenly Sonic had jumped up next to it. Before Knuckles had time to react, the ball had whizzed just over his shoulder and slammed into the net. Sonic landed on the ground and pumped a fist.

"Woot! Yes! Sonic scores another goal on the knucklehead!" he cheered. Knuckles up righted himself and folded his arms.

_"You couldn't beat me if it was baseball…"_ he muttered under his breath. Sonic placed his foot on a still ball and snickered.

"I know I can't. That's your sport, Knuckles. You've got it all in the arms! But with soccer…" Sonic smirked, doing a small spin and kicking another speed shot into the goal. "…it's all about the feet, which makes it my sport!"

"I thought we came here for a game, Faker, not going on about whose sport is whose!" Shadow snapped. Sonic held up his hands.

"All right! I just happened to arrive and you were failing at making goals! Do you really want my team to brutally beat yours? Fine!"

Tails whistled. "Come on guys! The game's starting!"

"Finally…" Amy groaned, quickly running up to Sonic's side of the field.

"All I can say is that I'd better not get dirty!" complained Rouge.

"It's soccer. It's a down and dirty sport!" Silver exclaimed, floating next to her. Sonic's team was himself, Tails, Amy and Cream, with Knuckles as goalie, and Shadow's team was himself, Rouge, Blaze and Silver, but they were one person short.

"We could give you Cream, since we could win without the extra player!" Sonic offered.

"She's really good too!" Tails added. It was true. Cream didn't look like much, but she was quite the offensive player! Besides Sonic and very rarely Rouge, Cream could actually make a goal on Knuckles. Shadow almost refused due to his ego, but then changed his mind and motioned for Cream.

"I won't let you down, Mister Shadow!" Cream said cheerily. Shadow just gave a grunt and got into position.

"This game is mine…"

Sonic did his special routine-which is the same as when he gets first in an event in Olympic Winter Games- and gave Shadow and intimidating look.

"Bring it on!"

Tails placed the ball smack in the center of the field, and after 3 seconds when he returned to position, the game began. Shadow quickly kicked the ball backward to Rouge who started to dribble down the field. Before she could even make a move, Amy came out of nowhere and practically hit the ground stealing the ball and sending it to Tails. Tails caught it with the inside of his foot and started to head for the goal, despite the fact he was more of a defensive player.

"Not today!" Silver cried, jumping in the steal the ball. Tails rolled his eyes and simply moved to the right-Silver slipped and landed on his back.

"You can't give an obvious sign that you'll steal the ball…" Tails said while sweat dropping. Silver just groaned on the ground. Amy ran up and made a motion for the ball again. Tails passed, but Cream intercepted and sprinted back to Knuckles' half of the field. Sonic jumped in front of her, but Cream rolled right between his legs and made a shot between Knuckles' legs. Knuckles groaned in protest while Shadow gave an impressed nod.

"I let her have it!" Sonic quickly said as rebounding excuse. Shadow snickered.

"Yeah right."

Sonic narrowed his eyes. "You haven't even seen good playing yet!"

"Yeah, because_ I_ haven't been in action."

Sonic got the ball this time, kicking it over Shadow's head and doing a power pass to Amy. Amy squealed in happiness and attempted to make a goal, but Blaze blocked the ball and gave it to Silver. Silver awkwardly pushed the ball down to the other side, until Tails, Amy, and Sonic ganged up on him and caused him to scream. Rouge swooped in, retrieved the ball, and gave it to Shadow. Shadow bumped it into the air and tried to make a goal also, but Knuckles stopped it dead in its tracks then tossed it to Sonic

"Thanks, Knux!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes.

Sonic furiously plowed through Rouge and Cream, but had to change tactics when he reached Silver. He simply stopped and smirked intimidatingly.

"Oh! Oh! Which way am I gonna go? Left? Right?"

Silver cringed and tried to steal, but Sonic was obviously too fast for him. Sonic then turned around and bumped the ball in the air.

"How about up?"

Sonic did a backflip with an outstretched leg, performing a bicycle kick. Blaze dove for the ball, however she missed and it slammed into the net with a poomph.

"You couldn't do better!"

Blaze got up from the ground. "Ow."

"You're such a show off…" Shadow murmured. Sonic shrugged.

"Gotta do it as much as I can!"

The ball was placed again. Sonic and Shadow kicked it at the same time, sending it upward. Tails flew up and kicked it downward. Amy hit it with her head to get it in her possession.

"Oh yeah!"

Just as Amy started to run, Rouge used her Tornado Spin to knock Amy down and send the ball randomly rolling. Sonic and Shadow both went for it, only to crash into each other and fall. Silver seized the chance and took the ball, but it was taken by Tails, who got it taken by Cream. Amy dove in and kicked it away, though Shadow claimed it. Sonic jumped back up and just about tackled Shadow, and Tails took Shadow's possession. He passed it back to Amy, who dribbled it up and kicked at Blaze. Blaze jumped up at the last moment to save the ball, but it resulted in getting hit in the face and becoming dizzy. Tails ran in on the rebound and made himself a goal.

"Wow-I actually did it!" he cheered.

Rouge folded her arms and muttered something under her breath.

"Hey! Can we actually get the ball down here? I'm looking for a little action!" Knuckles complained.

Rouge had a mouthful to say to that echidna, but Cream ushered her back to her position on the field. The ball was placed in the middle once again and Shadow wasted no time in getting it into his possession.

"Let's move!" he barked, Rouge and Cream hurrying after him while Silver stayed back just in case.

"Whoa wha-" Sonic hardly got out before Shadow and Rouge flew by him. Shadow dribbled the ball between his feet before giving it a mighty kick and shouted, "Playmaker!"

Rouge plowed into Amy to retrieve the ball from the air, then gave a wink at Cream. Cream grinned and made her way closer to the goal, unknown to anyone else. Amy, furious, recoiled back up and tried to get the ball back from Rouge, but Rouge suddenly kicked it backward, back into Shadow's possession. Shadow then wasted no time in kicking to Cream, who spun around and pounded the ball into the net, right between Knuckles' legs once again.

"You asked for a little action!" Rouge smirked. "Now you had a six year old little girl score a goal on you-"

"I never see her goals coming, that's the problem!" Knuckles protested, folding his arms. "Usually I can tell where the ball will end up on how someone goes to kick it. But Sonic already moves way too fast for me and Cream's tactic changes just about every time!"

"And then I can get a goal off you, don't forget," Rouge said flirtatiously. Knuckles made a face, though it was obviously he was blushing.

"Yeah, well, I can't predict you either-"

Rouge burst out laughing and trotted to the other side of the field. "Whatever, Knucklehead-"

"HEY!"

Knuckles angrily threw the ball back into the field, which Silver caught with his powers then dropped it…only have it land on Shadow's head. He grinned sheepishly while Shadow turned around and shook a fist.

"Okay while they're arguing…" Amy trailed, walking up to Sonic and Tails. "Maybe giving them Cream wasn't the best idea…"

"Relax Amy! We only need one more goal to win anyway!" Sonic exclaimed, now bouncing the ball on every part of his body. "I can handle this myself!"

"Yeah right! The only reason Cream's even been able to get up to the goal is because Shadow has strategy, and you of all people should be enforcing the laws of teamwork!"

"Uh, guys-" Tails started. Sonic and Amy turned to give him a look, though seconds later all three ducked under a fastball Shadow kicked.

"Let's play already!" he growled. "Next goal wins!"

"Fine by me!" Sonic called, already getting his head back in the game. The ball went soaring toward the goal, which Knuckle stopped easily then drop-kicked it back into the field. Sonic gave him a thumbs up, then retrieved the ball (with his legs) in midair and later started to go for the goal, but Rouge and Silver suddenly had him trapped. He winked at Tails while shouting, "Amy!"

Rouge and Silver moved to the side just enough to block a pass toward Amy, but also gave Sonic plenty of room to pass to Tails. The two-tailed fox ran in and obtained the ball, twisting around to go for the goal. However, he also turned right around into Cream, who called out a high-pitched, "Sorry!" and kicked the ball sharply to Shadow. Shadow began to jog to the other end of the field but was almost instantly cut off by Amy.

"Sorry Shadow!" she said with a smirk. "You're not beating my Sonic today!"

"Give me that ball back woman!"

"Yeah rig-HEY!"

Silver flew by her, stealing the ball and flying toward Knuckles. He gave a completely awkward kick, and the ball headed for the goal…and bounced off the side. Knuckles would've broke down laughing at Silver's terrible attempt if Rouge didn't swoop in and try to score either. He dove to the side, ball just barely ricocheting off his hand.

"I got it!" Sonic cried, running over and swept kicking the ball into his possession. Rouge and Silver quickly teamed up to try and steal the ball, but Sonic went backward, causing them to crash into each other. He snickered until Shadow roared and nearly knocked him down trying to get the ball. Both of them had some fancy footwork, kicking at the ball (and somewhat at each other), but eventually Cream jumped in and took it from both of them. Sonic and Shadow exchanged awestruck looks.

"Eh…"

"My own player stole the ball from me…"

"AND she's a little girl!"

"Shut up!"

Knuckles sweat dropped when he saw Cream coming, wide open for a short kick.

"Hey…a little back up, here!"

"On it!" Amy and Tails cried, quickly jumping in front of the goal then rushing forward toward Cream.

Cream looked up and let out a squeak. "Huh-"

"Sorry Cream!" Amy called as she kicked the ball between Cream's legs and gave it to Tails.

"Stop apologizing; you're supposed to do that!" Shadow shouted.

"You're never happy, aren't you?" Sonic sighed.

"When was the last time you've seen me smile?"

"When you were pummeling Wario."

"Ah, yes. Good, good times…"

While Shadow was reminiscing, Tails passed the ball to Sonic who took off for the goal almost instantly.

"Get him someone!" Blaze called out to her team.

"You know you can go out of the goal-" Silver started.

"And leave it even more open that is it now?"

"I don't think it maters now!" Sonic called, kicking the ball high-speed into the goal. Blaze jumped to the left and blocked with her shoulder, but this at the same time gave Sonic a second shot at scoring- which he did.

"Go Sonic!" Amy and Tails cheered, jumped up and down. Shadow growled and started stomping on the ground, Cream was going on about how fun it was, and Rouge and Silver just shrugged and could care less.

"Well, that was awfully short…" Rouge snorted.

"I'm a terrible goalie…" sighed Blaze.

"I'm a terrific goalie!" Knuckles said confidently. He even struck a pose until he felt two soccer balls whiz by him and noticed Sonic and Cream cracking up. "I wasn't paying attention!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Knuckles!" Sonic snickered, obviously having more fun poking fun at Knuckles than rubbing his win in Shadow's face. Knuckles was fuming at this point.

"Listen, if I was playing goalie against a team that didn't _know_ my moves, then I would show all of you!"

"My line," Sonic interrupted. He then looked thoughtful. "Hmm…but you may be onto something with the whole 'people that don't know your moves'…"

He then gave a large grin to Knuckles, who instantly sweat dropped.

"Oh no…please don't tell me I'm the only one who thinks they know what Sonic is thinking about thinking…"

"If he is, I'm going to pummel him for that and this embarrassing loss!" Shadow shouted.

"It wasn't THAT bad…" Rouge groaned, rolling her eyes.

"What's Mister Sonic thinking?" Cream asked. Sonic whirled around, looking even more overconfident then before. What was even odder was that he was holding the soccer ball, drumming his fingers on it, while his face sported an uncharacteristic evil sneer.

"Say…why don't we drop in on our old pals and challenge them to a game of soccer?"

Everyone gasped.

"Nuh- uh! No way! You said we weren't going to verse them in a sport ever again!" Silver cried.

"I meant that we'd never verse them in baseball again," Sonic replied calmly. "I never said anything about soccer!"

"Give me one good reason why we should even consider doing such a thing," Shadow stated emotionlessly, even though he was asking a question. Everyone but Sonic shivered away from him while the hedgehog in question started spinning the soccer ball on his finger.

"Because there's no way we can lose this time!" he cast out the hand that wasn't spinning the ball. "Think about it! The reason we lost so badly last time was because we had absolutely no baseball skill whatsoever! But, since we're all pros at soccer, we stand a chance! And who knows- perhaps they've never even heard of the game!"

"I doubt that," Shadow muttered. "But I'll admit you possess somewhat of a point. Though I still think we'd be pushing our luck."

"I could show Toad how good I am!" Cream suddenly cried. "He'd be so happy for me!"

"I can see Luigi," Tails said with a small smile. "I wouldn't mind going against him for fun!"

"Here we go…" Blaze sighed. "Now we're going to go on about how much we either want to see or destroy our-"

"There's no way Wario can defeat me!" Shadow cackled. "And I mean it this time- soccer is all about speed and skill, two things Wario lacks! Excellent…"

Silver shivered. "Urgh, Waluigi…"

Knuckles pumped his fists. "I can outdo Yoshi with my goalie abilities! Yeah!"

Amy thought this over. "Eh…I dunno, there's a very good chance Peach will bring me to ground- BUT DON'T EVER TELL HER I SAID THAT OR YOU'LL BE GOING INTO THE GROUND!"

"Can't you just play for fun?" Cream asked.

"pah! Just for fun?"

"Whenever we go up against Mario and his group it's always battle of whoever's better," sighed Tails.

"Which in this case, shall be us!" Sonic cheered. "They'll never see us coming! We'll appear out of the blue, show off our skills, then when they least expect it, BAM! We challenge them to a soccer tournament!"

"Newsflash, Big Blue," Rouge snickered, tossing a newspaper at Sonic's face. "Read the second article on page 9."

Sonic gave Rouge a look, but flipped to the page anyway. Everyone naturally crowded around and peered over his shoulder.

"Okay, let's see…oh."

"What's it say?" Cream asked, glancing up at Sonic's twitching eye. "I can't see it!"

"I'll read it!" Tails announced, snagging the paper away. "It says…ooh, the universal sport article! Um…new sport in Sky Land…StarFox takes up Ice Skating…the Mario Gang starts up their Strikers Season?"

"What's Striking?" Silver asked innocently. "It sounds like a sport we have in the future!"

"That's because it practically _is_ a future version of soccer," Shadow mumbled before Sonic took over.

"Actually, it's what people in the Mushroom King call soccer," he stated as a matter-of-factly. "And it may be a bit more…erm, "pumped up" from normal soccer."

"How so?" inquired Amy.

"Well, they use a metal ball and you have to wear protective armor."

Everyone gasped dramatically again and took a few steps back while Sonic rapidly shook his hands.

"Nononono! It's still safe and still like soccer, I promise!"

"I kinda freaked out at "metal ball"…" Blaze laughed nervously.

"It's safe!" Sonic continued to protest.

"Or maybe it really isn't and we can all hope that the sport will kill Wario," Shadow suggested. Everyone gave him a glance.

"That was way too casual for comfort…"

"Anyway, maybe, just maybe…if we have a Strikers Tournament instead of a soccer one, and we beat them at their own sport-" Sonic started.

"I see where you're going with this…" Silver trailed.

"Interesting…" mused Rouge.

"Are you sure we should do it?" Amy questioned.

"Sure! As long as we have the right gear, it'll be like playing normally! Besides, you know the otherworldly-visiting rules- when you're in an other's world, you must play by their rules. So if we went, we'd have to do it their way anyway."

"There's always the option that says we don't have to go!" Knuckles pointed out. Sonic punched his shoulder.

"That's _not_ an option; that's an easy way out!"

"And if we also go by the "otherworldly rules…" Tails began.

**Three hours Later at MS Station-**

"AAAH-CHOOO!"

Sonic handled Child a tissue. "Bless you."

"Thanks. Good thing Natalie's the "Universal Manager of Soccer-like Sports" as well as the "Universal Manger of Baseball" rather then me, huh?" Child asked before blowing her nose. "I'd probably sneeze over everything..."

"Ew," Rouge commented while wrinkling her nose.

"Are you going to the soc- I mean, Strikers Game?" Tails asked. Child shook her head.

"Nope. I'm too sick, and Natalie's really busy. Guess this is one Mario-Sonic adventure I'll have to miss…"

"What? It can't be a Mario-Sonic adventure without you though!" wailed Silver. Everyone sweat dropped.

"I'd like to think it wouldn't be a "Mario-Sonic" adventure without me or Mario…" Sonic trailed. Child sneezed again.

"Well, either way, I can't go. You guys are just going to have to manage without a neutralizer this time…"

Natalie then came in from a back room, carrying a huge stack of paper. She slammed in on Child's desk and glanced at the group. Said group shrunk back in fear at her stare.

"Okay…you're all registered to play soccer in Mario's World. Each of you has a theme, a mega strike, a super ability, and a special uniform AND armor which Child insisted I supply. You're welcome-"

"I designed them!" Child said happily before coughing. Natalie rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure Mario will explain all you need to know, so take your gear and get going. It's also custom to arrive there via a blimp and to jump out of the sky, so you can take that. Anything else I'm missing?"

Child shook her head. "Nope. You've pretty much nailed it. Good luck, you guys!"

Knuckles held up a pair of green shorts and raised an eyebrow. "We have to wear clothes?"

"Unless you want your fur getting permanently muddy, no." Natalie stated.

"You don't have to put anything on until after you get on the blimp and teleport, though. But if you want to now-"

Everyone was geared up almost instantly. Child and Natalie blinked.

"Okay."

Sonic-

_Character Type: Offensive_  
_Mega Strike: Sonic rockets upward, then blasts the ball down with a spin dash_  
_Super Ability: Super Sonic!_  
_Uniform: Sonic has cobalt blue armor with light blue and white accents_  
_Number: 15_  
_Theme: Endless Possibilities_

_Okay, you gotta admit, I look pretty cool, if that's even more possible than before! These blue shorts are pretty comfortable too…and this armor is shiny! Ahem, anyway...I've got a good feeling we're going to win, especially with my skill! Oh yes, Mario…_we're_ going to get you this time!_

Tails-

_Character Type: Defensive_  
_Mega Strike: Tails flies up high in a massive tornado before striking the ball_  
_Super Ability: Hurricane!_  
_Uniform: Tails has dark yellow armor with light yellow accents_  
_Number: 3.14_  
_Theme: Believe in Myself_

_This outfit is weird…between the shirt, shorts, and armor on top, it's definitely different to my usual style of…just shoes. Oh well. I'm not the best kicker, which I'm afraid will set me back…but I suppose Sonic makes up for me in that area. I s'pose I'm an okay defender though…but I like to be out in the action!_

Amy-

_Character Type: Playmaker  
__Mega Strike: Amy jumps up in a pink aura, smacking the ball to the goal with her hammer  
__Super Ability: Hammer Masher!  
__Uniform: Amy has dark pink armor with light pink and red accents  
__Number: S (for Sonic)  
__Theme: My Sweet Passion_

_Ooh! This is just the cutest sports uniform EVER! Peach's outfit is probably nothing in comparison to MINE! Er…I'm supposed to talk about my skills here aren't I? …but my outfit is so cute! And Peach is going down, no matter what tricks she has._

Knuckles-

_Character Type: Power_  
_Mega Strike: Knuckles charges up while glowing red, then strikes the ball with his fist_  
_Super Ability: Earthquake!_  
_Uniform: Knuckles has dark red armor with green and a lighter red accents_  
_Number: 34_  
_Theme: Unknown From M.E._

_These guys won't be able to a shot offa ME! Though I maybe strong in the goal, I can safely say that I'm not so great on the field. Maybe I'll be a backup defender or something-you know, if I'm not in the goal. Also, I happen to like these shorts. _

Cream-

_Character Type: Balanced (with shooting +2)_  
_Mega Strike: Cream floats up then kicks the ball down with her power kick_  
_Super Ability: Chao Attack!_  
_Uniform: Cream has orange armor with yellow and light blue accents_  
_Number: 7_  
_Theme: Follow Me_

_This will be so much fun! I'm so excited, and it's nice to know the others think I'm a good player. Maybe I'll get in a little more playing time than last time…I hope I'm against Toad. Toad's one of the best people out there! Why _wouldn't_ he be a major team player?_

Shadow-

_Character Type: Offensive_  
_Mega Strike: Shadow Chaos Controls above the field, then sends the ball down with a Chaos Spear_  
_Super Ability: Chaos Blast!_  
_Uniform: Shadow has black armor with major red and some gold accents._  
_Number: U (for ultimate)_  
_Theme: All Hail Shadow_

_There's no way Wario will beat me, I will say again! No, I don't want to do this, but if I must…I'm going to put Wario into a hole in the ground first. Perhaps I'll have fun after all._

Rouge-

_Character Type: Playmaker_  
_Mega Strike: Rouge soars above the field, striking the ball down with a tornado kick_  
_Super Ability: Infatuation!_  
_Uniform: Rouge has light black armor with major pink and white accents_  
_Number: 18_  
_Theme: Fly in the Freedom_

_How do I keep getting wrapped into these kind of things? I don't even get to have a healthy rivalry! Which reminds me, I wonder what "leftover" character I'll get stuck with this time…_

Silver-

_Character Type: Defensive_  
_Mega Strike: Silver levitates himself over all, followed by psychically sending the ball at the goal_  
_Super Ability: Psychic Freeze!_  
_Uniform: Silver has silver armor with heavy sea green accents_  
_Number: 13_  
_Theme: Dreams of an Absolution_

_All riiiiiight! Finally! I actually know this sport! It's actually still around in my time! …except that still doesn't change the fact I'm an awkward shooter. Oh well! I'm going to try this game, darn it- OW, I hit myself in the face! …you saw nothing!_

Blaze-

_Character Type: Balanced_  
_Mega Strike: Blaze flies up in fire, then send the ball down in flames_  
_Super Ability: Burning Blaze!_  
_Uniform: Blaze has dark purple armor with light purple, yellow, and pink accents_  
_Number: 22_

_Ah, here we go again…if I'm up against Daisy, she may have the upper hand. Can't really say soccer's my thing- but don't tell the others! I'm not really a sporty person, if you haven't noticed yet…even though I suppose I was okay at baseball. _

_Note: Everyone's shoes are just cleat-versions of what they usually wear and everyone's emblems are, well, their usual emblems._

**Meanwhile in the Mushroom Kingdom-**

"C'mon! Bring it!" Peach teased, sticking out her tongue and strutting down the field. Luigi just tipped his hat and smirked.

"You know I'm still winning, Peach-"

"Not for long, Luigi!" Peach protested. "You're only ahead by 2 points-"

"-With barely any time left!"

Peach rolled her eyes and turned to her team- Birdo and Toad.

"You guys ready to take Luigi down?"

Toad nodded eagerly while Birdo made the usual low pitched "Bewop" sound. Peach turned back around and smiled coyly at Luigi, who was talking to his own team: a Koopa and a Shy Guy.

"We've still got this!" Luigi said confidently, rallying up his allies.

"Or not. You know how Peach is…" Koopa said nervously.

"There's still a chance we can lose!" Shy Guy added. Luigi sulked.

"Aw come on…be positive!"

"30 seconds left, Luigi!" Daisy called, sporting her teal attire.

"You can do it Peach!" cheered Mario.

"This is hard to cheer for."

"Yeah…I know!"

Luckily it was just a practice game, since their Strikers season was just now starting. Nothing official would be happing for another two weeks, and all teams were trying to cram in as much practice as they could. Peach just recently had a match against Wario, while Waluigi went up against Luigi. Daisy and DK went at it and Mario and Bowser had a showdown. But, DK and Diddy had to leave early due to rumor of their bananas being in danger, while Bowser left due to being the sore loser that he is.

And apparently it rubbed off on his son.

"AWWWW! I HATE LOSING!" Bowser Jr. wailed, kicking the goalpost, then dancing around in pain afterwards. Yoshi, who he was up against, just sweat dropped. This outburst interrupted Peach and Luigi's game (Luigi was destined to win anyway) and everyone ran over. Mario tried to calm Junior down, but the Koopa Prince quickly swatted Mario away.

"Shoo! Shoo! You're a baaaaad man, Mario!"

"Calm down, BJ…" Peach trailed, walked over and putting her hands on his shoulders while Mario murmured something about being slapped. Everyone knew the only person Junior would listen to beside his father was Peach. Junior made a face and plopped himself down on the ground.

"It's not fair! Yoshi cheated!" Bowser Jr. pouted.

"I didn't cheat! I just used my Mega Strike!" Yoshi protested.

"Which my Kritter couldn't block! So you must've cheated! It's the only explanation!"

"That's _so_ not true…" grumbled Yoshi, rolling his eyes. "…but I agree that the goalies aren't really up to snuff. I actually wouldn't mind being a goalie-"

"Are you going against my pick for goalies?" complained Peach.

"Easy, Peach…" Mario and Luigi trailed at same time, trying to calm down the princess. Bowser Jr., meanwhile, had taken some deep breaths.

"Okay, I'm fine now. I'm tired of all this practicing though! I wanna get the tournament over with so I can take home the shiny trophy cup and make my Papa proud because I beat Mario!"

Mario whistled. "Well, that was a mouthful. But the Tournament doesn't start for another two weeks, so we_ have_ to practice!"

"No we don't! I'm bored! And my foot hurts!"

Everyone smacked their heads. Yoshi then mumbled quietly, "I'd still like to be a goalie…"

"You know what the other problem is?" Mario asked, rubbing his chin. "We've all been playing against each other, and we practically know how we all play by now. We need some fresh players to go up against, know what I'm saying?"

"Yeah…then we can make new techniques and things like that!" Daisy agreed, perking up.

Petey screeched, and since everyone was covering their ears, they weren't sure if it was in agreement or in pure distaste. Or just for the heck of screaming. Not to mention they all forgot he was even there...When Petey was done howling at nothing in particular, Wario spoke up.

"Remember the last time we wanted fresh competition? We ended up with other world freaks versing us in a game of baseball and that black and red rodent thing was always trying to kill me…"

"We did _not_ ask them to come- I found out some newspaper editor guys rigged that," Luigi stated intelligently.

"But it was awfully convenient, since were all unbeatable and looking for a challenge…" mused Peach.

"Man, that was quite a while ago…" Yoshi recalled, scratching the back of his head. His mind then clicked. "Oh man! I remembered! I nearly killed Knuckles and-"

"Please don't go back into a traumatized state Yoshi, no one can take it…."

"…I'm sorry."

"Is it just me, or are you guys actually_ wanting_ Sonic and his gang to come back?" Mario asked teasingly.

"I would!" Toad said, jumping up and down.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Tails," Luigi admitted.

"Heck no! I'm tiring of being Mr. Unsmiley's little punching bag!" Wario snapped, folding his arms.

Peach giggled. "Amy wouldn't even see me coming!"

"They were terrible at baseball!" cackled Waluigi. "I bet they haven't even heard of soccer, let alone Striking!"

"I'd still like to go against them, just to get outta the rut," Yoshi stated, jumped around and punching the air.

"Well you can just keep hoping and wishing," Bowser Jr. snorted. "It's not like they're going to fall out of the sky or something-"

"Uh, why's the sky getting dark?"

"SCREEEECH!"

"Argh, PETEY!"

Everyone looked up into the sky above the field (they were in a plain old one with no special effects), watching as a dark shadow passed above them.

"Well that's odd…why is there another blimp? We've already jumped!" Peach exclaimed.

"I think we're all wondering that, Peach."

"Well I'm just saying! Gosh!"

The door to the blimp suddenly opened, and the captains and their teammates all glanced up.

"You think someone's going to come out?"

"No, there's just a random blimp over head opening it's door because it wanted to air out!"

"No need for sarcasm…"

The door continued to open up, but still, no one could tell if anyone was inside. They stood, staring at the sky, wondering if there was going to be any more to this phenomenon, or if it was all coincidence. They had no idea just what was going on or why it all was happening-

Until Sonic took a daring leap off the side of the blimp.

"WHAT THE-"

"Now _this_ is way past cool! Whee!" Sonic cheered.

"We certainly are high up…" Blaze trailed, glancing down. Silver struck a pose.

"C'mon Blaze! If anything bad happens, we can all fly…except for Sonic, but he's landed on his face before several times so he's used to it!"

Silver practically dragged Blaze off the blimp as he, Tails, and Rouge all started to fly down. Knuckles sighed and ended up gliding after. Amy was looking slightly scared about the heights too.

"Don't worry Amy! We'll be fine!" Cream assured.

"Easy for you to say! You can fly!"

"I'll catch you if you don't land on your feet okay?"

"She has a hammer- she'll be fine!" snorted Shadow. "I, on the other hand, could just Chaos Control down and not have to worry about the pending pain we could possibly receive from this-"

Amy shoved Shadow off then grabbed onto Cream and jumped down with her. Shadow angrily shook a fist as they fell through the clouds.

Everyone already on the ground had their jaws dropped.

"What…" Mario trailed. Basically the same questions ran through everyone's head- what where they doing? Why were they there? What the heck?

Silver and Blaze landed before anyone, hitting the ground not as hard as Blaze originally thought. They were followed by Rouge and Tails, who were followed by Knuckles, Amy and Shadow. Sonic, despite being the first to jump, was the one the land last, because that makes perfect sense in the laws of psychics.

"Hi ya Mario!" Sonic called happily, as if falling from the sky onto a soccer field was perfectly casual. Everyone still had their jaws gaped. Sonic just kept grinning and gave a nod to Blaze, who currently had the ball in her possession. Setting it down, she kicked it up in a pillar of fire and Team Sonic instantly dispersed.

Silver jumped up, froze the ball with his powers, then sent it flying downwards with a blast of kinetic energy. Rouge managed to catch it with her head, then use her Tornado Kick to make it go flying across the field. Daisy instinctively went after the ball, but Shadow slid it out of nowhere and kicked it away.

"Not today!"

"Wha-"

Shadow drove the ball down the field, the other members of Mario's side also joining in for the moment. Shadow passed the ball to Cream, which gave Yoshi and Luigi a feeling of false security. They went in to try and snag the ball, but Cream quickly jumped up, ball held by her feet, did a small spin between them, and gave the ball to Amy.

"Whoa…" Yoshi whistled.

"The girl is good…" Luigi trailed.

Amy bounced the ball off of her shoulder (thank goodness for protective gear) and kicked it between Peach's legs. Knuckles stopped the ball dead in thin air with one palm only (no one took notice though, since they were still appalled) then tossed it upwards to Tails, who spun in midair to kick it, propelling it toward Sonic who bicycle-kicked the ball straight into the net, the Kritter in the goal falling flat on his face. The ball rolled calmly out of the net, Sonic stopped it with his foot before turning smugly to Mario and saying,

"We challenge you to a Strikers Tournament!"

* * *

**Next chapter has mingling and how this whole thing will work out, because this is not like any tournament you've seen before AND it's not like the game at all (well, I changed a couple things)! Bascically it just...kicked things off! Tell me what you think, and hopefully I'll have the next chapter cranked out soon! ^^**


	2. PrePlanning: This is How We Do it

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

Mario. Was. Dumbstruck.

_"Whaaaaaaaaat?"_

"You heard me! We just want to play a few rounds of soccer- I mean, Striking!" Sonic replied innocently.

"You arrive in a blimp, fall right onto our own game, show off your not-all-that-bad skills and expect us to take you on?"

"If anything, I'd say that proves that we want to play you quite a lot."

Mario eyed Sonic suspiciously, but nothing about Sonic seemed out of place. You could tell by the look on his face that he genuinely wanted to play a couple rounds of Striking. As Mario pondered the question, he glanced over to see everyone else react to the sudden arrival.

"Hey Luigi!" Tails called, running up eagerly to his friend. "Long time no see!"

Luigi turned around and grinned. "Hi Tails! Wasn't expecting you to drop in…literally."

"Neither did I, actually…"

They started talking, Cream went on a hunt for Toad, Amy and Peach were already starting to argue, and Silver was attempting to talk to Waluigi.

"Soooo…Waluigi! How've ya been?" he started.

Waluigi just blinked. Silver then resorted to a different tactic.

"Anyway, looks like we'll be sparing against each other soon!"

"…or not! Besides," Waluigi started, getting back into character, "I bet you don't even have a clue what the sport is!"

Silver was ready for that one and struck a pose. "On the contraire! I know _tons_ about this sport, because we actually have it in my time! I just can't believe it's in this world…"

"Hmph! I bet the only reason it's there is because I, Waluigi, have made it into a highly popular sport!"

"_You_! Why I outta- I can't WAIT to throw down! You hear me? ! I've got some serious skill that you ain't_ never_ seen coming!"

Silver kicked the nearest ball toward a net…only to have it miss completely. Waluigi burst out laughing while Silver sweat dropped.

"And there's also the problem consisting of 'I suck'…"

"Wah ha ha ha ha! The worst part is that I don't even have a clue as to what you said before!"

Silver sulked as Rouge stood off to the side, looking particularly bored.

"Hmm…Toadette's not here, Birdo's over there, and I've heard that DK left…hm, looks like there's no one for me to mingle with!"

Suddenly she felt very heavy breathing down her neck, causing Rouge to freeze up instantly. Slowly, ever so slowly, Rouge turned to glance over her shoulder…

…and came face to face with a "huge green freaky plant monster".

_"AUGH! Get it away! It nearly drooled on me!"_ Rouge screamed, running away from Petey. Petey let out a trademark wail before trotting after Rouge, though hardly able to keep up.

"What's the matter Rouge? It's only Petey!" Peach snickered, breaking away from her discussion with Amy over which shade of pink was better.

"It's not like he's going to eat you," teased Daisy.

Rouge stopped on a dime to glare at the princesses. "Do you not see the size of that-that _thing's_ mouth? It has the potential to devour me whole! Plus it has bad breath!"

"_He_ is a male, and _he _also has a name, you know…" Peach sighed.

"What I know is that he seems a bit…well, I dunno. But he seems to like you." pondered Daisy.

"Well tell him that I don't like him!" Rouge continued to complain until Petey appeared and scooped her up. Peach and Daisy got lost in a fit of snickers.

Meanwhile, Cream was just about plowing through everyone, trying to search for Toad. She bumped into Birdo, accidentally pushed Monty Mole to the ground, even crashed into Knuckles and Yoshi before finally coming to a stop at Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, after unintentionally sending the Dry Bones into pieces- literally. Hammer Bro shrugged.

"It's okay Cream- he always does that!" Hammer Bro. laughed. "But I have to ask…why are ya scampering around like that?"

"I'm looking for Toad! Have you seen him anywhere?" she asked, standing on her tippy-toes and trying to peer over Hammer Bro.'s shoulder.

"I think he's over at the bench over there-"

"Thanks!" she cried before bolting off once again. The Dry Bones rattled for a bit before putting himself back together.

"Who IS she?" Dry Bones questioned, straightening out his head.

Cream was in a mad sprint to that bench, where Toad was doing some light stretches and talking to a Shy Guy. Her eyes lit up upon reaching her friend and tackling him in a hug.

"Hi Toad! It's me, Cream!"

Toad, slightly taken aback by the somewhat glomp attack, but excited nevertheless, smiled back. "Hey Cream! What in this world are you doing here?"

"Sonic wanted to challenge Mario to a Strikers Tournament and he brought everyone with him!" Cream explained. "And it looks like everyone here has their own team! Where's your team Toad?"

Toad grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Um, I don't have a team, exactly…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not a captain, you know. I'm one of the teammates. Sidekick. I don't pick my team- my team picks me…"

Cream cocked her head and started at Toad. "How come you're a simple sidekick? You're way more than that! Good enough to be a captain!"

"Heh heh, you haven't even seen me play…but not only do captains have to be the most psychical, and I'm sure you know that's not how I roll…there were no more spots left…"

Cream pondered this as the Shy Guy Toad was talking too huffed away. She sat on the bench and was joined shortly by Toad who was finished with his stretches.

"Who all is a captain, then?" she questioned softly, a bit upset at learning Toad didn't fit the position. Toad shrugged.

"The usual crew. Mario, Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi…then DK and Diddy are captains too, but they left, and Bowser is but he stormed off because he's a poor sport…oh yeah, and there's Petey. Not sure of you've met him-"

"Screech!"

"LET ME GO!"

"I take it Petey's the one who is attacking Rouge?" Cream guessed, staring at the spectacle Peach and Daisy were cracking up at. Rouge was flailing about in Petey's grasp, receiving a chuckle from Toad as well.

"Heh, yeah. He's just hugging her though- you should be glad he ISN'T attacking. Now, for captains, I think I'm forgetting someone-"

"You forgot ME, moron!"

Toad scowled as Cream leaned outward to see past Toad.

"Bowser Jr.?"

"You totally forgot about me, didn't you?" the Koopa prince complained, pointing at Toad like he had just committed a crime. "If my Papa was here, oooh, what he'd do to you-"

"Leave him alone, Junior," Cream ordered, standing up and glaring in his direction. "I bet you're the reason he's stuck being a sidekick!"

"Cream, I really don't mind being-"

"Cream?" Junior froze. "You're here?"

"Yes I am- and you better leave Toad alone!"

Junior, even though he was somewhat happy to see Cream, wasn't about to let the young and growing ego he inherited from his father be squashed- by a girl.

"You can't tell me what to do! And what do you think you're doing- this isn't a little girl sport! It's for macho men like me…and Mama Peach. And apparently her scary best friend."

"What does me being a girl have to do with anything?" Cream replied innocently. Junior's words instantly flared down.

"W-Well, you're gonna get murdered! Trampled! Pushed face first into the mud! This sport will make you CRY!"

"It makes you cry too Junior," Toad retorted lightly, Cream laughing just as casually. Junior glared darkly back.

. . .

"All right, so we're going to plan everything in this sweet looking lounge, right?" Sonic asked as all eighteen of them piled into the fancy locker room. The main area was somewhat like a meeting room, with a huge round table and a vending machine right next to it. To the left was the guys' locker room and to the right was the girls'. Straight ahead was the booth to actually get into the games, but it was currently empty considering the season hadn't started yet.

"Yeah, that is correct…" Mario sighed back.

"Aw, come on. Don't pretend you're not thrilled!"

"Whoa, a vending machine!" Knuckles suddenly cried out, walking over to said object. Oddly, Yoshi, Shadow, Wario, Silver, and Waluigi followed along. Luigi, Tails, Petey, and Junior watched them while Peach, Amy, Daisy, Rouge, Blaze, and Cream snuck off to the girls' locker room.

"So what're we gonna do?" Tails asked, turning to Luigi. "Mario and Sonic are going to be busy planning things, so we've got…about an hour."

"I'm bored…so bored…" Junior complained. "And the girls went into the forbidden area of the girls' locker room…"

"Why do you care about that?" both Luigi and Tails chimed. Junior's pupils shrunk for a brief moment before he whirled around and shook a fist at them.

"I-It's none of your business why! You people annoy me…"

"What's up with him?" Tails whispered.

"It's a trait from his father-"

"I can hear you! I may be stupid, but I'm not deaf! Wait a second…I'm not stupid either! Roar…"

Luigi face palmed, Tails shook his head, and Petey started spinning in a circle.

. . .

"Okay, let me explain the basics…" Mario began, spreading out a pile of paper he accumulated from nowhere. Sonic leaned back in his chair and plopped both feet up on the table. Mario gave him a look that was obviously ignored.

"That's the thing, Mario…" he trailed, eyeing the group at the vending machine. "We know how to play, and what to do, and about Super Strikes and things like that…the question is, HOW do we do it?"

"You know it's not all of us versus all of you," Mario started again. "So the way I see it, it would be one of your teammates versus one of mine. Usually, it would be a simple match with one definite winner, or we could even do a best two out of three…"

"First option."

"All right…so, if we do it tourney style-"

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" Sonic held up a hand, cutting him off there. "No tourney."

"…well you can't challenge me to a Strikers Tournament without a tourney!"

"Who said a tournament HAD to be a tourney?"

"…the laws of how things work!"

"But tourneys are unfair, unpredictable, and they take a hecka long time…" groaned Sonic. "…and whoever makes it to the top could be two of my people or two of yours, which makes it doubly unfair."

Mario folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "How do you propose we should do it then?"

Sonic pull a random pen out of his quills and grabbed a piece of paper. He scribbled furiously, grinning as he came up with the perfect plan. Mario had to admit he was impressed by his writing speed, and his ability to write so flawlessly.

. . .

"So, you think you can take us on?" Peach said confidently, arms folded and foot resting on a bench. Daisy stood to her side, kicking a normal soccer ball around. Amy was gritting her teeth while trying to hold back the urge to smack them both into the wall with her hammer. Cream was positioned in the corner, watching curiously, and Blaze and Rouge were also ready to fight back if needed.

"You better believe it!" Amy snapped back, furiously swinging her mallet around. "We'll see how much ego you have when I squash it!"

"How threatening," Daisy sighed rolling her eyes. "We all know I OWN."

"You girls are nothing but talk," scoffed Rouge.

"Says the girl who's going to go up against Petey." snickered Daisy.

"I don't even understand why you feel the need to stir up such a ruckus, jeez…" Blaze trailed, glaring over her shoulder.

"Neither do I…" Cream squeaked silently.

"You might think you have the sporty skills, but at least we can kick butt and not get kidnapped every Thursday!" Amy sneered. Peach's jaw dropped.

"It's every MONDAY, thank you very much!"

"Further proves the point," chortled Blaze. Daisy growled and punched a locker, leaving a decent dent.

"You want go, Princess?"

"I'm a better one than you."

_"OoOoOoOh…" _Rouge and Amy hissed simultaneously. Peach and Daisy were obviously highly offended, and despite being outnumbered and outmatched, lunged at Amy, Rouge, and Blaze.

. . .

"I'm buying a Shroom Soda, outta the way!" Waluigi blared, pushing through the small crowd and placing five coins into the machine. Knuckles watched interestedly as a purple can was dispersed, Waluigi grabbing it and swiging it within the same move.

"I want something…" he said longingly.

"Well then get some coins…" scoffed Shadow, putting three in to buy beef jerky.

"How the heck did you get coins, Shadow?"

"I stole them from Wario, of course…"

"WARIO SAY WAH? !" the yellow plumber belted out, quickly patting his pockets. "Nobody steals from me! Only I steal from them!"

"Apparently I'm the exception," shrugged Shadow, gnawing the jerky. "Hey, this is pretty good-"

"I want something!" Knuckles chirped again.

"I want my money back!" Wario snagged, stealing what was left of Shadow's jerky and swallowing it whole. Everyone who witnessed the feat wasn't sure whether to be appalled by the fact he ate it in one bite, or grossed out because Shadow had already bitten off it. Shadow twitched.

"…I might as well get a snack too…" Silver muttered, placing four coins into the slot. "Before you ask Knuckles, Yoshi gave them to me."

"WHAT?"

"Sorry! He asked first!" Yoshi squeaked. "I'd still like to get something for myself, you know…"

Silver bought a candy bar while Yoshi got an apple (specifically avoiding the raisins). Everyone enjoyed their snacks and sipped their drinks (except Shadow who was plotting revenge), making Knuckles incredibly irritated.

Knuckles: *wants*

"RARGH!" "What in this world are you doing? !" "The heck?" "Knuckles broke the vending machine!"

. . .

"So here's my plan," Sonic continued, showing his paper to Mario. "There are eighteen of us. Divided up by two people per one match, that's nine total matches. Instead of doing it tournament style, we could just have nine matches, where the winner gets a point for their overall team- mine or yours. A tie would be impossible since there's a odd number of matches. Whoever has the most wins at the end wins the whole sha-BANG! Whaddya say?"

Mario stared.

"…wow you really thought that out."

"Eh, not really. What do you think?"

"It's quite clever, I must admit…"

"AND it'll work, no worries! Fool-proof and fail-proof!"

"Aren't those the same thing?"

"I don't know…"

"You can whip up an elaborate plan but not know that there's not a difference between-"

"AH, let's not get into that…focus man! We going with my awesome plan, or no?"

Mario closed his eyes and looked thoughtful. "It is my world, my rules, you know…"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know!"

"But what if this breaks the rules somehow…?"

"All you have to do is approve it, and technically you're blending it into your own rules!"

"This is so confusing..."

"Stop changing the subject. You're making the conversation longer than necessary."

"All right!" Mario threw up his hands, snagged the paper out of Sonic's hands, and signed his name. Sonic jumped up cheering "YES!" but Mario waved a finger. "Don't get excited just yet…you guys still need to decide on a few teams."

"Uh…what?"

Mario shrugged. "Each of your group will be a team captain- but you can't possibly win by yourself. You know Toad and Hammer Bro. and Birdo and Boo and all those other guys out there? They're sidekicks. Each of you need three of them to have a full team."

Sonic rubbed his chin. "Well…I know I can scrape up the Chaotix, and Shadow and Rouge would probably want Omega…how's about we only have two?"

"TWO?"

"Sure! Make the game a little more challenging, no?"

"Why two?"

"Cause I dunno if I can even get enough people…"

Mario once again pondered the situation. "…I may allow you to borrow a few of my sidekicks, if you want."

"That's a good idea! Cream would probably love being on a team with Toad…and I've heard that Hammer Bro. is quite the skilled shot too, am I right?"

"Hammer Bro. is only good at a close range to the net. Anywhere else he's…not so good."

"Still. I could probably whip him into shape or something."

"Okay, okay…that's taken care of. Any other tweaks you want to make?"

"If anything, I'm giving you fresh ideas!" Sonic shrugged. "…but there is the issue on goalies…"

"Yeah, Yoshi was saying that he'd like to try his hand at goalie…" Mario trailed. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't want to myself!"

"What are those green things in the goals anyway?"

"They're called Kritters- Peach thought that they'd make good goalies."

"Feel like testing out what it'd be like in the goal?"

"Alright-"

"Can we pick who we get to be goalie? I want Knuckles!"

"Then I'll get Yoshi. Let's ask the others about who they want to goal and their teams and-"

"KNUCKLES BROKE THE VENDING MACHINE!" Yoshi's high pitched wail echoed among the empty area. Said echidna was rapidly beating up said machine for a snack like it was a Sandbag. Silver was ducking and covering, Shadow watched without a care, and Wario and Waluigi even partook in the vandalism.

"No! That's the only vending machine we have!" cried Luigi. "The poor, somewhat too-high-priced treats!"

"What in this world…" Sonic groaned. Mario jaw literally dropped before he angrily turned to Sonic.

"That's your echidna causing mayhem, I believe."

"What do you want ME to do about it? He's as stubborn as a brick wall!"

Both of them were set to get up and move when Cream ran out of the locker room in a hysterical fit.

"Whoa, what's wrong Cream?" asked Mario, Sonic, Tails, Luigi, and Junior, everyone doing a double take and glancing at Junior.

"Can't a guy be CURIOUS? Sheesh…"

"The princesses started it! I'm not lying!" she cried at the top of her tiny lungs. "Chaos broke loose in the locker room! Listen!"

Sonic turned to Mario. "Those are your princesses causing mayhem, I believe."

"I can't hear over the sound of the vending machine fiasco…" grumbled Luigi. The vending machine was now on its side, Knuckles was pounding away at it like he was a mad monkey, Waluigi had obtained a crowbar and was trying to pull the cover off, Yoshi and Silver were still panicking, and Shadow and Wario just went with the flow.

"Listen!"

Cream grabbed Mario and pushed him toward the direction of the locker room. Sure enough, several female grunts and gasps ere emerging followed by locker slams, smacks, smashes, and battle cries.

"What're they doing?" Sonic guffawed.

"They're trying to bash each others brains out, that's what! You've gotta stop them!"

"Or allow them to come tumbling into the hallway…" trailed Tails. Everyone looked to see Daisy fall onto the floor. Blaze jumped on her back, who was piledrived by Peach, who was whacked over the head by Amy, and then Rouge stumbled over Daisy's leg and fell onto everyone.

"…why is everyone so blood thirsty for violence?" sighed Sonic, shaking his head. "We can't just have a peaceful, for fun, get together can we? No, we have chumps beating up vending machines and catfights!"

"Which is weird to call it that, since there's only one cat in that scrap-"

"You know what I mean."

Petey struck a pose, as if claiming that he was going to take care of everything, then marched over toward the girls first.

All Petey really had to do was stare and Rouge went wild.

"That thing is coming back! Get it away! AUGH!"

"I don't think Petey left a good first impression on her…" murmured Daisy, who was still at the bottom of the pile.

Rouge rolled off the pile in a desperate attempt to get away, causing Amy and Peach to fall over from the force and Blaze to be able to stand up and run. Daisy wasn't all too sure what had happened and sheepishly crawled away. Rouge rushed back into the locker room and slammed the door shut.

"He's not getting me this time!"

Petey brushed his leaves together, struck a confident pose, then headed over to the group at the vending machine. Knuckles had just recently cried out in victory at retrieving a bag of chips and a jumbo stick of jerky, and was waving them happily in the air while the rest of the group was complaining that he didn't pay for it. Petey pushed his way through the small crowd, grabbed Knuckles wrist, and chucked him to the other side of the room.

"WHAT THE-"

He collided with the opposite wall. Yoshi fainted. All of the anti-heroes just watched with wide eyes. Petey realized Knuckles had dropped his snacks during his midair, tossed them up, and swallowed them in one bite. Following that, he up righted the vending machine then beat it back into shape until it was as good as new.

At this point everyone was staring with their mouths gaping.

"Ahem…" Mario coughed, not quite sure how to react to the display.

"That was interesting…" Sonic mumbled. "Eh, anyway, we're almost all set you guys! We just need a bit of input from you guys, Rouge out of the locker room, and someone needs to wake Knuckles up...and Yoshi too."

"I'm on it!" Junior suddenly cried, running over to Knuckles and jumping on him. "Get up! Get up! You're holding up everything!"

Several face palms ensured afterward.

"Oh boy…anyway…" Mario groaned. "The number one thing we changed were the goalies-"

Peach looked highly offended until Mario finished with, "-and we're each going to be goalie for ONE match."

"All right!" Yoshi cheered, jumping out of unconsciousness.

"Sonic and I have already chosen Knuckles and Yoshi to be our goalies," Mario stated. Yoshi cheered again while Knuckles finally realized there was a kid jumping on his stomach and woke up.

"Aw great, I see I don't get a choice in that…" he grumbled, pushing Junior away. "…hey, where'd my chips and jerky go?"

"Can I have Shadow?" Silver asked. Shadow was about to make a retort about how he most certainly did not want to be goalie for Silver until Waluigi interrupted.

"Well I obviously want Wario, wah ha ha!"

"Well, in that case, my goalie skills are way more up to par than Wario's, obviously," Shadow sniffed. "Of course, that's only obvious because I'm faster, smarter, more fit, a sharp thinker-"

"Geez, hasn't your ego crushed you with how big it's getting?" Wario sighed, rolling his eyes. Shadow scowled and clenched his fist.

"That does it- Silver, you're goalie for me."

"Really? Oh wow! That's so great and- I bet you expect me to use my powers. Jerk."

"I want Waluigi then!" Wario barked. Mario just nodded and wrote it down.

"Waluigi say what-"

"Okay then, uh, who wants to pick next?" Sonic asked, laughing nervously as Waluigi tackled Wario in the background.

"I want Mario!" "Sonic owes me now." chimed Yoshi and Knuckles. Several groans emerged moments later.

"I wanted Mario!" complained Luigi, Peach, and apparently Petey.

"I wanted Sonic!" whined Tails, Amy, and Rouge, who was just now coming out of the locker room. Everyone awkwardly started at the latter.

"You wanted me, Rouge?" Sonic questioned with a raised eye ridge. Rouge shrugged.

"What? Shadow and Knuckles are taken, aren't they?"

"O-kay…anyway, Yoshi and Knuckles got dibs on the greatness that is us, so you guys are out of luck. Sorry…"

"I'll be your goalie, Sweetie!" Daisy giggled, walking over to Luigi and resting her arm on his shoulder. Luigi instantly broke out into a grin.

"Yeah, that's actually a good idea. All right Daisy!"

Tails signed in defeat until Cream tugged on his shirt. "I'll be your goalie, if that's okay with you Tails…"

"Okay Cream, why not? Maybe you're as good in the goal as you are on the field!"

Cream smiled, then ran over to Blaze as Peach and Amy started up a rant about how their second choices were taken up. Peach glared at Daisy, only to get a nervous grin in return. Amy, on the other hand, started pounding the floor with her hammer, and anyone within a seven foot radius backed away.

"I want Blaze for my goalie, please," Cream stated. "You're all right with that, aren't you Blaze?"

"Of course Cream."

Peach and Amy exchanged glances and groaned. "We'll take…"

The remaining five able to be picked looked hopeful.

"Luigi, I guess…" "I'll take Tails."

Luigi and Tails cheered while Rouge and Petey had a fit.

"Great. I'm picked last," pouted the bat.

Blaze blinked. "…wait a second. I just realized I don't get a choice in my goalie now. Shoot."

Rouge glared. "Quit complaining, sister."

"I still haven't been picked, Blaze!" Amy exclaimed. Blaze shook her head.

"I can't pick you- Rouge can't be her own goalie. By default, I get Rouge and Rouge gets you."

"I have to be goalie for ROUGE? Great…"

"And that means I get Petey…" Daisy realized. "Hmph! You better not disappoint me…"

Petey was currently sleeping. Peach sighed.

"I'm goalie for Petey then…"

"Well that works out perfect!" cheered Mario, glancing at the list.

"No it doesn't!" shouted Junior, stomping his foot and on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum. "I'm no one's goalie and now there's no one to be goalie for ME! That's so totally lame! I bet you PLANNED that Mario! You're a baaaaaaad man!"

"I don't think I've ever smacked my forehead so much in one day…"

"Well Junior, you'd better find a goalie before your match…" Mario shrugged. "…or you could just use a Kritter-"

"Nuh uh! If everyone else gets a super special goalie then I'm going to too! Hmph! You just wait and see…"

"Okay Junior…"

"Can we start playing now?" Silver asked. "Sorry if it sounds like I'm anxious…because I'm anxious!"

"This is going to be fun!" cheered Peach, spinning around. She then turned and smirked at Amy. "It'll be even better when I beat you into the ground too! Hmm hmm…"

"We'll see about that…" Amy growled back.

"All right! I'm totally pumped! Woo!" Sonic cried, jumped up and pumping a fist into the air. He landed back on the ground and gave a confident look to Mario. "You ready for this, Mario? It's really on now!"

Mario grinned and adjusted his hat. With an equally as confident pose, the plumber dramatically pointed at his rival. "All right, then, Sonic…I accept your challenge!"

* * *

**All right! Nothing like totally screwing up the rules of a game to fit your own purposes! :D And I have no idea why there was a locker room brawl or a murder of a vending machine...the chapter would be very boring if it was just planning. So, the very first match of the game is up next, and I hope to see you all then! ^^**


	3. Pink and Powerful

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

Pink and Powerful

_Match 1: Princess Peach vs. Amy Rose_  
_Goalies: Luigi and Miles "Tails" Prower_  
_Stadium: The Vice_  
_Current Score: Mario- 0, Sonic-0_

Once again, word of another "Mario vs. Sonic hurrah" had spread quickly, causing an uproar of people to flood the first arena, being The Vice. Those pesky fan girls, a few fan boys, reporters, crazy sports fans…you name it, they were probably there.

Among those in the crowd were the players themselves.

"I place bets on Peach! Man, the girl has it going ON!" Silver cried. He received several hits afterward. "OW! What?"

"You can't go cheering against your own team!" Blaze snapped. She then returned her attention to the field. "Go Amy! Get us the first point!"

"Show 'er who's boss, Peach! WOO!" Daisy shouted over the roar of cheers. "YEAH!"

Everyone around Daisy agreed that the crowd got even louder.

**Meanwhile in the Lounge-**

"Thanks for coming on such short notice you guys…" Sonic said, handing water bottles to the Chaotix. Vector, who was sitting back casually in a chair, simply shrugged.

"Ah, not a problem Sonic. We Chaotix are _always_ willing to help out on a dime-"

"Can it Vector, we're only doing this because we were actually paid!" complained Espio shaking a fist. Charmy was at the vending machine, which was still working fine despite Knuckles' rampage.

"This stupid machine doesn't take Rings!" he complained. "And I so wanted that box of raisins…"

"Do I even need to say it?" complained Yoshi as he walked out of the locker room. He glared at Charmy, shook his head, then headed to the stands. Charmy was utterly confused.

"What? They're just raisins! Sheesh…what does he have against dried grapes?"

"Why are you two lollygagging around anyway- you're up first!" Espio cried.

Vector's eyes nearly popped out of his head, jumped out of his lounging chair, snagged Charmy out of midair, and sprinted out toward the field. Espio sweat dropped while Sonic face palmed.

"Is that all you could scrape up, Sonic?" Mario asked. Sonic shook his head.

"Nah, Omega's in the locker room zapping at a picture of Eggman, and two others I've invited have yet to come. Luckily they won't be needed for awhile anyway."

"Well, we'd better get down there to watch Peach and Amy duke it out…"

"Race ya!" Sonic called, disappearing before the exclamation was even finished.

. . .

"Let's just hope I don't screw something up…" gulped Luigi, hopping about nervously in the goal, armed with high tech armor. Hey, he was going to have deflect a metallic ball! Tails was on the other side of the field, probably looking just as nervous as Luigi was.

The crowd was up in an anxious buzz, the rest of the gang in a frenzy among them.

"Knock the crud out of her Peach!" Daisy screamed. A select few scooted away.

"Show what you've got Amy!" shouted Knuckles.

"Um…does anyone else get a bad feeling about the two being goalies this match?" Silver gulped.

"What makes you think that?" Yoshi asked. Silver shook his head.

"Just a hunch…"

Vector and Charmy then came running out from one side of the field, waving to the crowd to rile them up even more than ever before. On the other side of the field came Birdo and Toad. A few people were highly confused about why there were only two sidekicks per team, but unfortunately they didn't know about Sonic's odd changes to the game.

Amy suddenly jumped down out of nowhere, landing on both knees, one hand on the ground, and one arm slightly behind her. In a flash, she jumped to her feet and folded her arms.

"I'll destroy all of you!" she sneered to Birdo and Toad. Birdo remained unprovoked while Toad squirmed a bit. Vector and Charmy exchanged a high five before striking battle stances. Birdo and Toad did nothing until a techno theme started playing in the arena, and everyone looked up, Toad and Birdo pointing excitedly. Amy, Vector, and Charmy glanced up-

And there was Peach falling from the sky.

"Princess-" she brought her head up confidently, tossing her ponytail out of her face, and smirked. "-PEACH!"

"Oh man, that was so cool!" Sonic cried, shaking with excitement. "Can I fall out of the sky too?"

"We'll see Sonic…" Mario sighed. "You can do it, Peach!"

"Game on, girl…" Peach trailed as she stood up, then crouched slightly to be able to spring into action. Amy rolled on her heels and prepared herself.

"All right, bring it!"

The ball was thrown into play, officially starting the first match.

"Okay then!"

"Huh-"

Peach rammed into the ball the very second it hit the ground, lobbing it towards Birdo. Amy was caught off guard from the suddenness of the move, but quickly shook it off and told Vector and Charmy to get moving.

"Let's move! Let's move!" she barked, hurrying to try and intercept Birdo. Vector rolled her eyes.

"Sheesh…"

Birdo ran down the field a ways before passing the ball to Toad, who quickly got rid of it by passing it back to Peach. The princess took off toward the goal, ready to shoot, until Charmy swooped out of nowhere, gained possession of the ball, rolled under Peach's legs, and passed it to Amy. She avoided Toad trying to make a steal, passed it to Vector, then ran behind Toad and moved closer to the goal. Peach came from behind Vector and kicked the ball through his legs, but Charmy intercepted it in the air, kicked it toward Amy, and Amy went for a powershot toward the left of the goal. Luigi dove at the last second, feeling the metal ball bounce against his body armor. Peach cheered in the background, Amy pouted, and Toad and Charmy made a mad dash for the ball. Luckily Luigi made it so it rolled Toad's way.

"Here ya go!" Toad cried to Birdo, sending it her way. Birdo gave a nod then took off again. However Amy slid into her way, causing Birdo to trip, Vector to gain possession of the ball, and for Peach to snag it again. Toad hurried to get open so Peach could lob it to him.

"Nuh uh! I don't think so!" Charmy laughed, flying up and intercepting the ball in the air once again. He kicked it down toward Amy, who was about to go for it when Birdo bumped her out of the way and gained it herself. She awkwardly passed to Peach, whom Vector was all over.

"You can't take the ball away from me!" he roared, quickly placing his foot on the ball and rolling it backward. Peach smirked.

"Or can I?"

Birdo came up from behind Vector and claimed the ball from where he had rolled it backward to. As Amy started yelling angrily, Birdo gave the ball to Toad, whom passed to Peach, whom pass it BACK to Toad, whom kicked it high up for Peach to leap up with it, swinging her leg and slamming the ball into the net after just whizzing over Tails' shoulder.

"Oh yeah!" Peach struck a pose as several cameras started snapping pictures. Her theme started playing again, the crowd was going crazy at the first goal, and Amy was somewhat dizzy.

"Oh boy…" she wheezed.

"Got a plan this time, playmaker?" Vector asked, taking his defensive position just in front of Tails.

"I swear, I didn't even SEE the ball it moved so fast!" he cried. Amy just waved it off.

"It's just one goal. We'll catch up…"

The ball was placed back into play, Amy automatically getting the possession of it. Toad was standing guard, ready to strike if needed, but Amy went around him and kicked the ball to Charmy. Toad then rushed over to bee instead. Charmy giggled before pulling off his deke- stinging anyone in the way.

"Augh! Augh! AUGH!"

Toad started running around in a tiny circle before tripping over his own two feet, Charmy satisfyingly kicking the ball over him to Amy. Amy spun around to attempt a goal- the ball went flying straight into Birdo.

"What?"

Birdo just made that weird noise she always makes. Amy angrily sweep kicked her, causing the ball to roll out of both their ranges. They both gasped and scrambled for it, and Amy was almost there until Birdo rammed her side into the hedgehog, forcing Amy to trip and stumble into the electric fence.

"DAH!"

"WHOA COOL! I WANNA TRY!" Charmy yelled, flying into the fence himself, getting electrocuted, and falling to the ground. Vector just face palmed.

. . .

"Ooh! That's gotta hurt!" Knuckles exclaimed while cringing.

"It actually doesn't hurt all that bad- it's more of a shock, really," Koopa stated.

"It hurts a lot less than getting stomped on!" shouted a nearby Goomba. Mario shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

. . .

Meanwhile, since both Amy and Charmy were briefly down for the count, Peach, Toad, and Birdo kept exchanging the ball within one another, trying to charge up its power. Vector was prepared to be on the defensive, while Tails became more alert, knowing they could attempt a goal at any moment.

Peach went in for a harsh shot- Tails managed to block to ball with both his hands and pushed it back into play, but this required him to move out of the goal a bit. Before Vector had a chance to even get close to the ball, Peach and Toad traded sneaky glances, Birdo gained the ball and passed it to Toad. He lobbed it over Tails' head and watched it roll softly into the goal.

Toad ran back to his original position while waving at the crowd going crazy. Daisy was hysterical in the stands, even summoning a wave despite the fact Peach only had two goals. Waluigi just scoffed.

"Psh, I could do so much better…"

"Oh really, Waluigi…" Daisy, Silver, Wario, Yoshi, and several other gathered around questioned. Waluigi struck a "manly" pose.

"Of course! Do you not see how much of a stud I am? Sure, the princess may have skills, but you haven't seen anything yet!"

"And I was told_ I_ had an ego…" grunted Shadow, cueing several fits of laughter. Waluigi twitched before sitting back down.

"Popcorn, anyone?" Wario asked, offering it to anyone. Everyone shook their head. Wario shrugged. "More for me."

Then he ate the entire bag- and the bag itself along with it.

. . .

"You guys are doing great!" Peach squealed, high-fiving Toad and Birdo.

"I try!" "Bewop."

Amy glared enviously over her shoulder as she turned to Charmy and Vector.

"You just HAD to throw yourself into the fence…" she grunted.

"It was so tempting!" the bee protested. "…and fun!"

"Well don't do it again, Charmy. You could've helped out Vector!"

"Please tell me we have a plan this time," Vector said.

"Have you noticed they keep passing the ball constantly, then going in for a shot? We have to stop them from doing that, and I've got a plan…"

"YES!"

*momentary whispering*

"…and make sure the ball gets back to me. Got it?"

"Right!" Vector and Charmy chimed. Amy grinning.

"This goal is going to be so easy…"

Peach strutted back to her spot, Amy twirled into hers. As soon as the ball was given to Amy, she kicked it backward to Vector. Vector lobbed it up to Charmy, safely getting past Birdo.

"Get the ball! GET THE BALL!" Peach shouted.

"Not this time, Peach!" Amy chuckled. Charmy shot the ball downwards to the ground. It bounced, giving Amy perfect clearway to run in and knock the ball into the goal with her head. Luigi had lunged for the ball a few precious seconds too late, allowing Amy her first point.

"URGH!" Peach held her head in her hands, marching angrily back to her spot before stomping the ground and pretending to cry. Amy rolled her eyes.

"It's only one point, Princess…" she scoffed. "Don't throw a Junior tantrum."

Peach eyes flashed with a burning determination. "It's on."

Amy shrugged and gave high fives to Charmy and Vector before assuming her original position. Peach made odd hand motions to her team, most likely instructing some sort of plan, just as she put her foot on the ball. Amy was fast and swiftly kicked it away.

Everything went into slow motion as Peach body bumped Amy to the ground.

"Woah!"

Amy landed on her face and started skidding against the ground, leaving a trail of dirt where she was plowed. Peach kicked the ball away from a stunned Charmy and ran quickly for the goal, but Vector once again swooped out of nowhere and removed it from her possession.

"Charmy, quick!" he shouted, lobbing it upwards. Charmy adjusted the helmet on his head before diving at the ball.

"Roger!"

"After him! After him!" demanded Peach.

Toad and Birdo went after Charmy while screaming hysterically. Charmy paid them no mind, keeping the ball in the air as long as he could until he had to kick it towards the ground. Toad and Birdo came up from behind him to snag the ball while it was idle, but Charmy performed sort of a ground pound and stung Birdo's head.

"BEWOP!"

Toad cringed as Birdo started running around grabbing her head. Charmy then flashed a grin as he kicked the ball toward Luigi, who once again dove and caught it then tossed it back on the playing field. Peach had grown tired of watching her team's failures and ran in to hopefully intercept the ball.

"I don't think so!" Charmy shouted, kicking the ball toward Vector. Vector broke out into a wide grin, then passed it back to Charmy, who passed it back to Vector, who passed it BACK to Charmy, who made everyone start to get really dizzy from watching the ball go back and forth…

"Forget this!" Peach hissed. She jumped in front of Charmy to get the ball back. He, however, stuck his tongue out at her and blew a raspberry, then kicked the ball through her legs back to Vector. Birdo was still recovering from the nasty sting to the head while Toad wasn't all too sure about what was going on. Peach violently spun around to face Vector, who faked her out with a Deke then passed the ball backward. The princess fell to the ground in attempt to retrieve the ball, only to find it rolling the opposite way at full power.

And Amy was running right for it.

"No no no no NO!" she stammered, floundering to get herself up off the ground. Amy, who had finally pulled herself together from the blow, was now in control of the ball.

"Oh yes."

She then punted the ball upwards, lit up in a bright pink aura, and soared right after the ball. Toad and Birdo engaged in running around in circles. Vector and Charmy whistled. Peach started barking orders at Luigi.

"Block as many balls as you can! Don't let any get past you!"

"I-I'mma try…"

. . .

"Holy crow, Amy's using her Mega Strike!" Knuckles gasped dramatically. "This calls for a trip to the vending machine!"

"She won't get by Luigi, I'm sure of it!" exclaimed Daisy, watching the game intently with her fists clenched tightly.

"You guys should have taken the popcorn when I offered it," sighed Wario, now slurping up a soda.

"I-"

"We don't need to hear it Shadow."

"Hmph! Fine! Ignore me and my two cents on the situation!"

. . .

Luigi trembled in the goal, while Amy was feeling pretty confident at this point. In a somewhat slow-motion fashion, she pulled out her hammer, spun around once, then let out a battle cry as it made harsh contact with the metal sphere. It rocketed down toward Luigi, then split into six separate balls. Luigi gulped, then braced himself.

"C'mon Luigi…" Toad trailed, crossing his fingers and gritting his teeth.

Luigi dove to the right- managed to catch one. Another ball soared right over him, giving Amy's team another point. He was back on his feet quick, jumping up and stopping another.

"I can't move and block and see where the next ball is going to go all at the same time!" he wailed, cringing as the fourth ball whizzed over his shoulder and thudded into the net. He veered to the left to attempt another block, though the fifth ball was aimed for the right side of the net. Peach sweat dropped furiously, but at least Luigi made up for it by doing a back flip towards the middle of the goal and catching the final ball in midair. "H-hey, I managed to stop three!"

Peach sighed. "Yeah, but-"

"I got three points!" Amy screamed to the world, throwing up a fist as the score was changed to 2-4, with Amy having two more points than Peach.

"You've really got to step up your game," she whispered meticulously to Toad and Birdo, who shuddered and nodded hesitantly.

"Boy, Peach sure does get into these games…" Toad muttered under his breath while he got back in position.

"There's not much time left either," Birdo pointed out. "I hope we manage to get at least one more point…"

Once Amy, Vector, and Charmy were back in position, Peach's team regained control of the ball.

"Let's just turn their strategy against them," Peach smirked, kicking the ball backward to Toad. He ran forward, Charmy swooping in to take the ball away again.

"Charmy, don't try your-"

"Taste the sting of Charmy, baby!"

Vector face palmed as Charmy tried to string Toad's head, like he did to Birdo. The only problem with this was that Toad had a helmet.

"AUGH! Ow, it feels like I stung myself! WHY?" Charmy wailed, grabbing his behind and scrambling throughout the air. Toad grinned, then kicked the ball sideways to Birdo who kicked it back to Peach who kicked it back to Birdo who gave it to Toad who gave it back to Peach.

"How dare you use our tactic!" Amy shouted, running straight at the princess like a charging bull. Peach just grinned smugly while shrugged.

"It's not really your tactic…"

She passed back to Birdo, then jumped into the air shouting "Freeze Frame!"

"What're you-"

"HEY!"

Amy, Vector, and Charmy were frozen to where they were standing, thanks to Peach's array of blinding cameras. Now with them out of the way, Toad gave the super-charged ball back to Peach, who was more than ready to deal a Mega Strike of her own.

"Uh oh…" whimpered Tails. He looked to Amy for support, to which he got a frozen look of fear in return. How comforting.

Peach rose into the air, looking particularly peaceful as her own light pink aura emitted from her. A set of wings even emerged, and the power she had been building up was unleashed and directed at the ball, falling majestically at Tails' goal before it spilt into six. One plowed straight into Tails, knocking him back a bit. He threw it to the ground and dove for the next one, only to fail.

"Wah!"

Tails performed a sort of headstand, knocking the third ball away with his tails. This time, he was faster to get up off the ground, but still didn't make it in time to block balls four and five. Snarling now, Tails flew up to where the final ball was aimed for, then kicked it right back out of the net. He had only managed to fend against two. His ears drooped disappointedly as Peach spun around in excitement.

"Sorry Amy…"

"It's all right Tails…she's only ahead by two. It's not like we can't catch up."

"Not with how fast we're running out of time! AUGH!" wailed Charmy. Amy punched a fist into her palm, Sonic-style.

"We're not going down without a fight!"

"One minute left!" Vector pointed out, reminding Amy of the time factor. She gave the crocodile a look before returning to the game. As soon as she received the ball, she kicked it to Vector then pulled out her hammer and went crazy with it.

. . .

"And Amy makes a move with her Super Ability! Will she pull off some sort of miracle?" Yoshi gasped. Meanwhile Knuckles came running back with a candy bar clutched in his grasp.

"That machine has everything! …and no, I didn't break it again. Petey gave me a few coins."

"Hey, can I have a piece?" Sonic asked, reaching over. Knuckles yelped and slapped his hand away.

"You most certainly can not! You don't know what it took to get this delicacy!"

"Speaking of, where IS Petey now?" Cream asked.

"Sitting next to Rouge," Junior replied. "And _I'm _sitting next to _you."_

Cream sweat dropped. "It was sort of hard to not notice…"

"About time you guys realized," Rouge hissed, struggling to get out of Petey's grasp. "Why does this _thing_ like me so much anyway?"

Everyone just shrugged. Petey purred. Rouge cried out for mercy.

"I'm going to finish watching the match…" huffed Waluigi.

"I still think Peach'll win," Silver said. He was pelted with random debris from Team Sonic.

"Shut up Silver, Amy still has a chance…"

"Well I'm psychic!"

"You can't see the future, however."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really."

"Oh, okay."

. . .

"Get her away! Get her away!" Toad yelled, then screaming even louder when Amy struck him and sent him flying into the fence. As Amy bashed and battered Peach's team (she was now stalking Birdo while Peach was trying to get back up and get back at Amy) Vector and Charmy worked their way down the field, exchanging the ball between them along the way. Charmy gave a powerful kick toward the goal, but it ricocheted off Luigi's armor. Vector was quick on the rebound, jumping up a bit then slamming a shot into the net.

"All right Vector!" Amy cheered. "Woo hoo!"

"You're still behind," Peach reminded her as she returned to center of the field. Amy just scoffed and stood opposite of her. Vector, Toad, Birdo, and Charmy all exchanged looks, then glanced at the clock- a mere thirty seconds left.

"Try to keep it up, guys, if you know what I mean…" Amy whispered over her shoulder. Vector raised an eyebrow.

"I may be a detective, but I have no idea what she means."

"Well I know what she means," Charmy blared loudly. "C'mon, we can at least tie this!"

"Good luck with tha-"

"UNH!"

Amy slammed into Peach, doing the exact same thing Peach had done to her. The princess flipped over in the air once, the skidded violently across the ground and leaving a crater.

"You-you can't use my-"

Amy smirked while shrugged, getting the ball back and lobbing it up to Charmy once again. "It's not your tactic."

Charmy laughed and kicked it high to Vector, who then quickly kicked the ball to Amy the moment he got it. Peach yelled at Toad and Birdo, telling them not to let Amy score. Amy retrieved the ball again, then passed it to Vector just as Birdo tried to kick it away.

"Ten seconds left!" Tails shouted over the excited roar of the crowd. Cheers for Amy erupted out of the crowd while calls for Peach were heard as well.

"Six…five…four…" chanted Blaze.

Vector made a fast pass back to Amy who then launched herself a few feet off the ground.

"Three…two…" murmured Daisy, gripping Mario for dear life.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

The bell that signaled the end of the match rang out. The ball Amy kicked rolled delicately into the net- Luigi didn't need to even block that one. The pink hedgehog fell to the ground in defeat as Peach celebrated by strutting her stuff up and down the field. She waved eagerly to the crowd, then walked over to Amy and held out a hand.

"You played good, Amy…" she admitted as Amy sighed and allowed Peach to help her up. "It would have been really close…"

"I dunno…I could've done better…"

"Still, you managed to pull out plans from nowhere that netted you a few goals. I think I managed a few lucky shots myself, to be honest."

Amy was silent- she was thinking it over. Finally, she broke out into a small smile. "I guess you're right. Thanks Peach. …though if there ever is a next time, I'll beat you for sure!"

Peach laughed and started walking away. "I highly doubt that. But whatever- we should probably head back to the lounge."

Amy nodded and ran to catch up with her, Charmy wailing in agony, Vector sweat dropping, and Toad and Birdo doing a victory dance.

"Wah, Vector…we suck!"

"We do not suck just because we lost-"

"That's the exact reason WHY we suck! We suck because we lost. We lost because we suck. It's a reciprocal!"

"Get a grip, Charmy. The next match we play in we'll do so much better!"

Charmy froze then blinked. "Aw man, I'm IN the next match! Darn it!"

"C'mon you guys- let's get going!" Toad exclaimed, making his way after Peach and Amy.

"I knew Peach would win," Silver laughed. He then ran away from his team going on an angry riot against him.

**The Lounge Moments Later-**

"All right! Drinks for the Mario gang, all on the house and bought from the vending machine!" Daisy announced, sliding several bottles of water down the table while Knuckles stood off to the side glaring with envy.

"Okay, so the current score is Mario: one point; me: no points…but that was only the first match! Eight more to go!" called Sonic, drawing it up on the white board behind the table.

"Who's in the next match, Sonic?" Peach asked, guzzling down her bottled water while Daisy showered her with praise.

"Me! Me! Me! I'm next!" shouted Silver, jumping up and down frantically.

"Oh really? I predict you lose then," Shadow murmured. Silver made a face and glared at Shadow.

"Hey, I shouldn't lose, considering you're my goalie, right?"

"I might be the goalie, but you're still the captain. The odds are not in your favor."

"Oh, quiet Shadow. Stop lowering self-esteem."

"Wow, being a goalie is hard," Luigi gaped, just now crawling into the lounge. He was leaning on Tails, who was looking equally as tired.

"It sure is fun though, if not exhilarating," Tails added.

"So…tired…blocking Mega Strikes are the worst…"

Waluigi turned to Wario, who was at the vending machine trying to think of what he wanted to gorge himself with this time.

"You better play hard, Wario! I can already predict you'll be an atrocious goalie!"

"Or will I? Remember, Silver can't make a shot to save his life," Wario murmured calmly, deciding to buy the bag of garlic crisps next to the Shroom Crunch bar and the Chaos Soda. He took out his crisps (ignoring Knuckles eyeing them) and started dumping the bag in his mouth. "There's a good chance you've got this."

"Of course there's a good chance I'll win- I'm Waluigi! It's a 100% chance! The only thing I worry about is you bringing me down!"

Wario threw a crisp and hit Waluigi in the face. Shadow, Silver, Knuckles, and Yoshi then all gathered around to watch them beat up each other.

"Nothing like violence…" Yoshi sighed, sipping his drink lightly.

Meanwhile, Vector, Charmy, Toad, and Birdo returned to lounge as well. Cream was over there in a flash to tell Toad "good job" and Vector and Charmy "better luck next time".

"Ugh, I've got to get cleaned up a bit before Yoshi's match…" Birdo groaned, heading off for the bathroom.

"Don't worry Cream- I'll do so much better next time!" Vector assured, striking a masculine pose. "Just remember to tell your mother how great of an athlete I am-"

"Can it Vector," Espio muttered as he walked by. "I've got to get ready myself- why don't you chill and take a break?"

"I was going to but I was talking to Cream-"

"Vector! Vector! Buy me a candy bar! Buy me a candy bar!" Charmy suddenly cried, shoving the crocodile over to the ever-famous vending machine. Vector really wasn't left with much choice- Knuckles was over there in a hot second begging Vector to get him something as well. Unfortunately Vector couldn't handle the combined force of Knuckles and Charmy and caved in.

"Well, that was weird," Toad declared.

"It happens a lot," Cream said while shrugged. "…But you were great out there!"

"Nah, I was nothing special-"

"Well, you made a goal whereas Birdo didn't…"

"True, true…but I really didn't do much."

Cream folded her arms and attempted to look stubborn, which just made her look twice as adorable.

"Stop bring yourself down. You're a good player!"

"Not as great as me, though…" Junior boasted, strolling in right on their conversation. "I'm practically unmatched!"

"Uh-huh…" Cream trailed, not really sure how to respond.

"So says the guy who kicks the goalpost when he's upset," huffed Toad, smirking at Junior with glee.

"Quiet! Nobody asked you! I was talking to Cream!"

"You were? It was hard to tell."

"Listen up here Shroom Head-"

"Easy guys!" Cream cried, jumping between them. "No need to get so worked up about something so unimportant!"

Junior's lower lip quivered slightly before pointing at Toad. "It's his fault. He's a jerk."

_"Whaaaaat?"_

"If my Papa were here, he'd turn you into a stew…or something! I can't think of a good comeback right now so don't judge me!"

Toad turned to Cream. "What in the world did _I _do?"

"I dunno. He just stormed over here and started shouting things that I don't even understand at this point."

"Ooooh, forget you. But I'll be back! And when I get back, oooh, you're going to be in for it!" Junior started marching off, then briefly turned back around to Cream. "You might want to stay away from nachos…just a heads up…"

And then he left, leaving Cream and Toad completely bewildered at Junior's bizarre behavior and wary of nachos.

. . .

As Sonic was writing stats and other notes up on the board, Amy was glued to his side, bawling up a storm.

"OH Sonic, I'm so sorry I lost! We've just started and we're already losing! Forgive me! Please!"

"Amy, I'm not even mad! But I'm going to be if you keep dangling from my arm while I'm trying to write!"

"What? Oh, sorry. Again."

Sonic gave a quick nod, then continued to draw. He cringed and let out a yelp when Waluigi was suddenly thrown into the board, erasing all of his hard work.

"Oh come on! That took forever!"

"Ow…" moaned Waluigi, falling to the floor. Sonic glared angrily at the purple plumber on the floor before pulling himself and Amy away as Wario fell down from nowhere and pile-drived into Waluigi. Yoshi and Shadow abruptly jumped on the table and started shouting.

"C'mon Waluigi! Beat that yellow blob!" Shadow demanded.

"Oh this is so cool in a way…" rambled Yoshi who was practically dancing.

"What're y'all doin'?" Sonic shouted. "Now I have to write everything all over again!"

"Oh, Wario and Waluigi and trying to kill each before they begin their match," Yoshi explained coolly.

"…tell them to knock it off!"

"Knock it off," Shadow said emotionlessly. Sonic groaned and hung his head as Mario walked over.

"Hey Sonic how's the stats coming- ooooooooh…"

"Yeah, that giant blue smear on the white board make all my efforts look so **fetching**, _don't they?"_

"Uh…I'mma go get the next match started up- how's that sound?"

"_Marvelous."_

* * *

**This was sort of a guinea pig chapter, just to see how I should work it all out...which is where input from you people is greatly appericiated. ^^ Please, sort of bear with me until the third match- which is two chapters away. **


	4. One Stormy Match

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

One Stormy Match

_Match 2: Waluigi vs. Silver the Hedgehog  
__Goalies: Wario and Shadow the Hedgehog  
__Stadium: Thunder Island  
__Current Score: Mario- 1, Sonic- 0_

Rouge poked around the halls in the lounge, making sure the coast was clear before she stepped out into the open.

"All right Omega, we're good to go. Remember your new target if you see him?"

"Yes. Targets locked on big green plant thing. Description not very specific."

Rouge frowned and scratched her head. "Well, I think his name is Peewee or something- I don't really know, but I'm certain you'll recognize him when you see him. It's so great to have a killer robot as a friend!"

"Trust me. Peewee will not be getting away."

Rouge grinned and gave Omega a careful pat. "Good to know! With you by my side, that thing won't bother me anymore! But don't shoot unless absolutely necessary, okay?"

"I will suppress the urge."

"Good. Now I'm going to go watch the match! I'll call you if I need you!"

She rushed out the door, leaving Omega on "Peewee" duty. All in all, it probably wasn't as great an idea as she had originally planned.

. . .

"I'll laugh if Silver loses- it'll be like karma! Or irony!" chuckled Yoshi.

"With Wario as goalie? Wouldn't be surprised if Waluigi lost," Knuckles countered, arms folded and watching the field intently. "…any one have a snack they'd be willing to share?"

"I've got fruit snacks!" Luigi exclaimed, waving his small package in the air. Knuckles narrowed his eyes and stared at the colorful packaging.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Oh, the vending machine-"

"GIMME SOME!"

"WAAAAH!"

Knuckles wrestled Luigi for the fruit snacks as Rouge practically skipped onto the scene. She glanced around- Petey was on the other side of the group. Perfect.

"I'm back! Did I miss anything important?"

"Nah, the match is just about to start!" Peach exclaimed, casting out her hand. "See for yourself!"

. . .

"I swear Silver, if you lose this-"

"What did I tell you about lowering self-esteem? It hurts!"

Shadow just rolled his eyes, standing by his goal in all his magnificent masculine glory and making the fan girls nearly faint at how shiny his simply amazing armor was and taking careful note at how it glimmered in the sun-

"Okay, that's enough narration…" huffed Wario, standing in his goal as well. "There isn't even any sun out! It's all-"

"LIGHTNING!" Charmy shouted at the top of his lungs as he was struck with it. Espio just sighed as the bee dropped to the ground. While Charmy was trying to get himself together, Waluigi's team, consisting of Monty Mole and Dry Bones, arrived on the field and appeared to look menacing. Espio had to drag Charmy over, then they struck poses as well.

"Well what're you waiting for?" Shadow scoffed to Silver who was cowering on the sidelines. "Go shout something menacing!"

Silver groaned as he suddenly lit up in green and hovered over. "Oh, fine…"

As his theme played softly throughout the arena, he flew in-between Espio and Charmy, then did a flew flips into the air before assuming his usual mid-air pose.

"I'm using everything I've got!"

Monty Mole just rolled his eyes as if Silver was an unworthy challenge, while Dry Bones started pointing frantically to the sky. Monty Mole looked up as well, and a bluegrass theme started playing throughout the stadium. Silver, Espio, and Charmy looked up as well- Waluigi was rocketing out of the sky looking like he was a super hero. Right before he slammed into the ground, Waluigi planted down his feet, struck a pose, and yelled, "OH YEAH!"

Silver gulped.

"Ready to lose, psycho hedgehog?" Waluigi sneered confidently. Silver instantly twitched and stomped his foot in anger.

"I'm a psychic hedgehog! How hard is that to understand?"

"It's all the same to me!"

"Can we start already?" whined Charmy.

"No, Silver's working on his trash talk," Shadow snapped back, watching intently.

"We all know I'mma win anyway," Waluigi continued, shrugging.

"Nuh-uh! I'm going to win! And would you like to know WHY?"

"Humor me. Why?"

"I'VE GOT A NINJA ON MY TEAM, SO HA!"

"Well I've got a Dry Bones-"

"I'VE GOT A NINJA!"

Espio groaned. "Don't drag me into this…"

Silver was looking pretty proud of himself while Waluigi just stared him down. They waited for the ball to be put into play, right smack dab in the middle of the field…then the whistle blew and the two charged. The match instantly began with Waluigi knocking Silver to the ground and allowing Monty Mole to gain possession of the ball. Everyone cringed, seeing Silver's face covered with dirt. He quickly pulled his head out of the ground, spat out a clump, and rushed after Waluigi.

Meanwhile, Monty Moles and Dry Bones were struggling to keep the ball away from Espio and Charmy, since they were passing pretty badly. Monty Mole gave the ball to Dry Bones, since Dry bones was a lot more agile than he was. Espio was quick, darting in from all directions trying to kick the ball away, but Dry Bones blocked him every time.

"Ova-here!" Waluigi shouted, running past Charmy and waving his hands frantically. Dry Bones nodded, kicking the ball between Espio's legs and straight at Waluigi. Charmy made a bold attempt to steal the ball, but only ended up doing an unintended cartwheel in the air. Waluigi grinned, then ran straight for the goal and kicked the ball in without any interference from the goalie.

Silver went slack jawed. "SHADOW!"

Shadow, who wasn't paying any attention at all, just looked up from the rock he was staring at. "Hm?"

"You just let Waluigi make a goal!"

Shadow turned around and nearly doubled-over at the sight of the ball in his goal, to which Silver responded with a face palm. Waluigi burst into uproarious laughter as he ran around with his arms spread and Wario was quick to join in on it.

. . .

"Good Chaos, Shadow…geez…" groaned Amy.

"Why in the world was he staring at a rock of all things?" questioned Luigi.

"You better get your head in the game Shadow, or I'mma go down there and beat your head into it!" threatened Knuckles, chucking popcorn as far as he could throw.

"Yeah, that's a great way to motivate someone," scoffed Daisy. "I bet you punch people in the face to encourage self-esteem too!"

"At least Silver's not having an episode over one little goal…" muttered Toad under his breath. Both Peach and Daisy were glaring down at him.

"What is that supposed?"

"Nothing! I swear! Augh!"

. . .

The ball was placed back in the middle before being rolled to Silver. Espio, being the playmaker that he was, had the ball passed to him as he analyzed the field. Dry Bones was dancing around Charmy, Monty Mole was blocking Espio like a wall, and Silver was running around like crazy as Waluigi thought he was crazy, if not psycho like he originally claimed. Espio faked going to the right to move Monty Mole out of the way, then kicked the ball into the air. He flipped, then kicked the ball again toward Charmy. The hyperactive bee luckily gained possession of it and ran away from Dry Bones.

"Silver!" he shouted, passing the ball to the captain. Silver nearly tackled the ball, keeping it safely away from Waluigi and running toward Wario. Silver kicked it as hard as he possibly could, sending it flying…right into Wario's stomach. The ball bounced safely off and toward Dry Bones. Waluigi started laughing again while Shadow started swearing up a storm in the other goal.

"How is that even possible?" Silver gaped, feeling faint.

"Giving it all ya got, eh?" Waluigi cackled.

Silver made a face at Waluigi and ran after his team. Waluigi chased him as well, getting him to trip over a rock that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Espio slid across the ground to trip Dry Bones, and also getting the ball to fly toward Charmy, but Monty Mole shoved Charmy away with his shoulder and obtained the ball once again. Dry Bones cheered from the ground while Espio grunted in frustration. This time, Shadow saw the ball approaching the goal, and he was ready for it. Waluigi suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started shouting for the ball. Espio moved in front of Monty Mole, but Monty Mole passed it backwards to Dry Bones, who kicked it just enough for Waluigi to get it and move it towards the goal. Shadow managed to block it when it thudded against his chest (which the fan girls assumed he had did it on purpose to be extremely macho), but it knocked the wind out of him and sent him to the ground. He attempted to run back toward the middle, but Waluigi seized the ball on the rebound and slammed it into the net.

"WA-LU-I-GI! YEA YEA YEA!" he cheered, performing his infamous crotch chop with his team. Silver tore at the ground in frustration while the crowd seemed unanimously displeased- except those that despised Silver for whatever reasons.

. . .

"Uncalled for!" Blaze shouted, nearly throwing her over the edge of the crowd. Peach grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.

"Sit down! There's really nothing you can do about it!"

"At this rate, Silver's going to get pummeled!" Tails exclaimed, receiving a bewildered look from Sonic. "What? I did the calculations!"

"This guy's a total wimp, getting pushed around like that!" snickered Junior.

"He hasn't shown what he can do yet, that's all…" Cream said quietly, watching Silver pick himself up off the ground. Junior grunted, folded his arms, and turned away.

"Well, I bet that he's going to get stepped on the next time he's on the ground."

"I don't know if I'd be exactly thrilled if Waluigi wins…" Daisy murmured.

"Yeah, then he'd be all over you!" Luigi laughed lighter. Daisy was not amused, and her expression scared the heck out of Luigi who started sweating. "Heh heh, of course, I'll totally prevent that from ever happening, you know!"

"If Waluigi wins, that's another point for us!" Mario also pointed out.

"I hope he doesn't! What a jerk!" barked Knuckles. Petey just let out a screech.

. . .

"You've really gotta pull yourself together. You're letting us fall apart like…like…like a soggy cookie!" Charmy exclaimed. Silver spat out a rock.

"Sorry about that, I was too busy getting acquainted with the rock hard ground to actually do anything!"

Espio gripped Silver's shoulder and smacked him- you know, if Silver hadn't ducked. "You're the captain! Start thinking like one! You're getting piledrived into the ground!"

Silver rolled his eyes. "More literal than intended."

"That's not-"

"Hey, losers! Are you at least going to try and finish the game?" Waluigi taunted. "Of course, we could always end it here to save us all the trouble…WAH HAH HAH!"

"C'mon, at least let them get to the goal down here…" Wario yawned, leaning against the goal post. "It's getting boring…just a little, though."

Enraged, Silver kicked the ball, only to lob it as hard as he could into the air, which he didn't exactly mean to do. The good part about it was that at least Charmy could get to it in the air before it hit the ground again. However, a violent wind suddenly started up, blowing both Charmy and the ball off course…and the rest of the players as well.

"What the heck is this?" Silver yelped.

"They don't call it Thunder Island for nothing!" Waluigi called back, gripping the ground. "Every match held here takes place during a storm!"

"WHAT! ?"

The ball conked Monty Mole on the head while Espio was trying to run away from Cheep Cheeps gone haywire.

"Cheeps Cheeps, Tractors, and cows, oh my!" wailed Charmy, being whipped around in the wind. Silver put on a determined look and struggled his way toward the ball.

"Well I'm not letting a little wind slow me down…"

It also started to rain, soaking Silver's hairdo and causing it to flop into his face.

"Aw great."

Wario was nearly hit by a tractor while Shadow was smacked in the face with a cow. The Ultimate Life Form grabbed said cow and threw it over the edge of the field with a Chaos Spear.

The wind was blowing toward Wario's side of the field, giving Silver the advantage for the moment. While the sidekicks were all occupied with fighting against the wind and random debris flying around, Silver reached the ball and took it into his possession.

"Let the wind's luck be with me…"

He started running faster than usual thanks to the wind, and was nearing Wario's goal at a breakneck pace. Just as he readied his foot to make a shot…

"WALL-LUIGI!" A flash of purple bolted in front of him, snagged the ball, and left a huge mess of vines blocking Silver's path. When Silver came to his senses, he realized Waluigi had used his Super Ability, which made him go faster as well despite the wind direction, and ran for Shadow's side of the field. Silver couldn't do a thing about it, considering Waluigi's vine wall left him boxed in.

"Waluigi's on fire!"

. . .

"Waluigi's going to _be_ on fire…" Blaze growled, the only thing preventing her from barbecuing the plumber being everyone holding her back.

. . .

With no one surrounding him or any threats to him whatsoever, Waluigi charged up the ball to do a Mega Strike- however, he only charged it four times as much rather than the max of six. Shadow watched as he took off into the air, glowing a deep shade of vibrant purple. A vine whip materialized in his hand, and once he brought it around his head once, Waluigi whipped the ball with it and split it into four.

"C'mon on, Shadow!" cried Silver, Charmy, and Espio. Shadow placed his heels on the goalie line and crouched, ready to spring when needed. The first ball whizzed toward the upper right- Shadow was there in a flash and knocked it to the ground. The second one was targeting the lower left- Shadow moved there like lightning and caught it with his hands. The third one was flying toward the middle, so Shadow did a backflip and smacked it away. He upright himself and prepared for the fourth one…but it smacked against the goal post and didn't count. Waluigi, when he returned to the ground, was appalled.

"Waluigi say WHAT! ?"

"You can't score on the Ultimate!" Shadow boasted, his ego shooting up considerably.

"At least he made up for the first goal that he missed," Espio huffed, running after the ball now joined as one again.

"The score is still 2-0..." Silver said sadly.

. . .

Omega was getting dreadfully bored, if a robot of his kind was able to feel bored. He sat in the corner, where he could see the door, but anyone who came in from the door couldn't see him. It was perfect, in case Rouge's specified targeted decided to walk in for a bathroom break or a snack from the vending machine. He was preparing to switch himself into rest mode when he heard the door to the lounge swing open. A tall and slightly robust woman walked through while a small boy with a red cap with a green brim came skipping in, a pocket full of money.

"MOM, can I get something from the vending machine? Please? Please? PLEASE!"

"Okay! Just hurry! I don't want to miss anymore of this match than necessary. I'll be in the washroom while you go fetch your snack, Peewee."

Omega's eyes suddenly turned red and came to life.

. . .

Espio had the ball again, which was a good sign for Silver's team. The storm had finally calmed down a bit, but Silver (and everyone else) was still unfortunately soaked. Monty Mole plowed his head into Espio stomach, pushing him away from the ball. His efforts were proven futile because Charmy flew out of nowhere and swiped the ball for himself.

"Yeah! All right!"

"Go, Charmy, go!" Silver shouted.

"Grrr, after them! Now!" Waluigi ordered Monty Mole and Dry Bones, preparing to block Silver if needed. Charmy ran as fast as he could, but he could sense Waluigi's sidekicks gaining on him. Thinking quickly, he shot the ball backward to Espio, making the opposing duo trip when they suddenly stopped. Waluigi angrily stomped his foot into the ground. Silver decided the help out with his own Super Ability.

"Psychic Freeze!"

Waluigi, Monty Mole, and Dry Bones, who were all advancing toward Espio at the moment, were suddenly enveloped by Silver's psychic green aura and were stopped dead in their tracks. Silver smirked a little as he flicked his wrist and sent the three of them flying across the field. Waluigi tumbled into the goal and accidentally knocked Shadow down. Shadow grabbed Waluigi buy the arm and flung him into Dry Bones, who shattered into a bone pile upon contact. Monty Mole rolled like a tumble weed over the edge of the field.

Now open for a shot, Silver did himself one better as he received the ball from Espio, charged it up five times as much, and took off into the air. This time, being surrounded by a neon green aura was a good thing! He levitated over the field, staring directly at his target- the goal. He used his ESP to control the ball, hovering it up over his shoulder, then cast his hand forward and split the ball into five. The quintet of balls rained down toward the goal, each of them hitting the net with very distinct "Poomphs". Wario made one very, very, very feeble weak to block- he rolled over on his back, only for a ball to bounce off his belly again and hit the net anyway.

Wario was in the middle of a nap.

. . .

"That's right Silver, you had better make a comeback!" Blaze cheered.

"I never thought I'd see the day…" gaped Mario.

"What about the Monty Mole? He rolled right over the edge and no one's doing anything about it!" Amy exhausted frantically.

"It's perfectly fine! The next time a storm comes, any players who fell off will return to the center of the field!" Yoshi said positively. "Nothing to worry about!"

"Waluigi's not a-gonna be happy about-a this one…" Luigi moaned worriedly.

. . .

"WAH! WAH! WAH! _WHAT? !" _Wario howled, being kicked violently by Waluigi. The fat plumber stood back up once again to see Waluigi glaring him in eye.

"Why the heck were you taking a freakin' nap?" Waluigi shouted. "You just let Silver Mega Strike himself into the lead, you buffoon!"

"It's not my fault the lack of action on my end caused me to drift off into slumber."

"It is too your fault! And it'll also be your fault of we lose!"

"Hey Waluigi!" Silver called cheerfully, just about skipping up to him. "Your goalie's sure giving it all he's got, huh? Waluigi's gonna be number 2 if this keeps up!"

Waluigi made a mocking face and mimicked Silver's voice, swatting a hand at the air as well before trudging back to the middle of the field. He was currently down a player, and if the winds didn't pick up again, Waluigi wouldn't get that player back, especially at such a crucial time in the game. For now, he was going to have to make do with Dry Bones. Silver had finally gotten to right idea, and stayed near Waluigi while Charmy and Espio guarded Dry Bones. This made things increasingly difficult.

"Beautiful…" Waluigi grunted. He made a daring move, lobbing the ball over Silver's head, knocking him to the ground once again, and trying to gain possession of the ball before anyone got to it. This plan backfired epically when Silver tripped Waluigi.

"Look who's eating dirt now!"

This caused the two to break out into a mini-Brawl while fighting to keep the ball away from each other. Espio snuck in undetected since he was invisible and took the ball for himself.

"Let's go, Charmy!"

"Right behind you!"

They made there way to Wario's goal, ready to help out of each other if needed. After receiving such a beating from Waluigi, Wario was certainly going to step up his game a bit. Espio kicked at Wario, which Wario blocked easily. The ball ricocheted toward Charmy who did a small flip before sending it toward the net. Wario stopped it in the air and caught it, then threw it between Espio and Charmy at Dry Bones, who had been waiting for the right opportunity. He kicked the ball backwards into the air, where Waluigi untwisted himself from Silver, sprung into the air, and did a spin to send the ball straight into the goal. Shadow never saw it coming.

"3-5, woo!" cheered Dry Bones, running around excitedly. "Wait…we're losing. But we'll catch up!"

"Waluigi yeah! Heh heh heh…" he pointed at Silver who was still sprawled out on the ground. "Losers!"

"Who do you think you are?" Silver inquired as Waluigi dusted his hands off. Waluigi struck a pose.

"I think I am Waluigi, and Waluigi thinks that he is going to beat you, wah hah hah!"

"Oh yeah? You're still down by two, and we officially have thirty seconds left until this match ends. I highly doubt you'll make more than two goals in thirty seconds."

"You wanna bet, Loser? Then let's just see about that!" Waluigi cackled. He received the ball from a frustrated Shadow, who was doubly mad since he missed his original target of Waluigi's face. "Want the ball? HERE!"

Silver was knocked back down to the ground thanks to Waluigi pelting the ball at him. Waluigi just started laughing and cheering while dancing around. Silver could've sworn his fur turned red.

. . .

When the woman emerged out of the bathroom, she instantly fainted at the sight of her son being in the line of fire of a machine gun, a flamethrower, a bazooka, a laser, and several unrepeatable phrases. Peewee ran around the room as Omega constantly shouted things like: "PEEWEE MUST BE ERADICATED." "TARGET LOCKED ON. SENSORS SET TO DEADLY." "MUST REMEMBER NOT TO HARM VENDING MACHINE."

"Mommy!" Peewee wailed, pulling his mother out of the lounge while miraculously avoiding Omega's onslaught of attacks. When Peewee was out of the building, Omega sat back down and retracted all of his weapons.

"That should make Peewee never return. Friend Rouge shall not be bothered again. Peewee got off easy this time."

. . .

Silver got the ball first once more, and he knew he had to plan his moves carefully. However, this this the winds were against him- literally. The storm was brewing again, which brought Monty Mole back to Waluigi, and now the winds were blowing towards Shadow, which was a double bad thing for Silver.

"We'll be running 'til the cows come home!" Charmy yelled, getting hit by an off-kilter cow. Espio face palmed as the strong winds moved him a small distance away. Twenty-five seconds to prevent Waluigi from catch up. Silver pushed against the winds, but the winds pushed back a lot rougher and ended up blowing Silver right over. He did several backwards somersaults while Waluigi claimed the ball and ran with the wind.

"Things are blowing my way now, heh heh!"

Monty Mole and Dry Bones fought against the random objects swirling around in order to help Waluigi. Espio was quick on his feet, turning invisible so he could have some sort of advantage. Waluigi passed to Dry Bones, who Espio tried to take the ball from, but since Dry Bones was a defensive prodigy, the chameleon just couldn't take it, even if he was invisible. Dry Bones passed back to Waluigi who shot. Shadow was quick to block and threw the ball to Espio. Silver tumbled into Espio's legs, causing them to both fall in a heap. Dry Bones shot this time, Shadow bouncing it back. Waluigi intercepted, passed to Monty Mole, who shot the ball into he net while Shadow was still getting back into position.

"And you said you couldn't score on the Ultimate," scoffed Waluigi. He then turned away from Shadow and pumped his fist, letting out some incoherent cheering. Shadow was getting ready to kick him off the edge of the field until Silver swooped in and prevented him from doing so.

"Easy, there, Shadow…we can still win this!" Silver explained. "There's only fifteen seconds left!"

"He's so shifty!" Shadow wailed, falling to the ground in agony. Silver rolled his eyes.

"I know, right?"

Wario just blew a raspberry in the other goal. "At least you get to do something!" he called over. Waluigi gave him a look.

"Aw, quit complaining you."

Silver took the ball back in a disgruntled manner, planning to keep the ball away from Waluigi for fifteen seconds. His original intentions were quickly shatteedr when Waluigi rammed into him, snagged the ball, kicked to Dry Bones, who passed sluggishly to Monty mole, who passed just as sluggishly back to Dry Bones, who gave it back to Waluigi, who slammed the ball right into the net. Shadow, who had dove for the ball, went skidding across the ground in defeat. Silver's jaw just about fell to the ground while the crowd broke out into an uproar.

"And there…was one second…to spare…" the hedgehog huffed in disbelief. Waluigi just stepped toward the middle of the field and held up his arms while chanting his name.

. . .

"Darn it, Waluigi just tied the game!" Knuckles complained.

"That means we go into Sudden Death," Peach said with a grin.

"Please don't let Waluigi win…" pleaded Daisy to no one in particular, getting odd stares from everyone around her.

"C'mon Silver, you've shown us that you can at least hang in there!" cheered Sonic.

"Sudden Death! Sudden Death! Yeah!" cried Junior. "Go Waluigi!"

Meanwhile, Rouge noted that Petey had stood up and headed toward the lounge for whatever reason. She smirked to herself, thinking that all her plant troubles would be over.

. . .

When Petey entered the lounge, he noticed that there had been some redecoration going on- the bullets holes in the ceiling complimented nicely with the scorched walls and laser markings. Shrugging, he strolled on over to the vending machine, passing Omega on his way there. The bulky red and black robot stood up and stopped Petey.

"Halt. A name is required."

Petey looked confused, then attempted to give his name in his screechy little language. Omega's eyes turned green.

"Translating screech. Name: Petey Piranha. You may pass. Have a nice day."

Petey grinned, then continued his way to the vending machine. Once he obtained a pack of sunflower seeds (the irony!), he quickly headed back out to see how the match would end. Omega watched him leave.

"Sensors indicate that Petey seems like a nice guy. No threat detected. Friend Rouge will be pleased."

. . .

Silver and Waluigi had returned to the center of the field, panting with how exhausted they were. Espio, Dry Bones, Charmy, and Monty mole were just as tired, but none of them were going to give up just yet. The next one to make a goal would be claimed the winner, and it wasn't something to take lightly. The ball was placed in the middle, and Silver and Waluigi threw themselves at each other for it like it was an *American* Football game. Dry Bones was the one to retrieve the ball and ran at breakneck speed towards Shadow, who was going to make sure no ball got past him- otherwise it would be his faulty that they lost. Dry Bones had a decent lead on everyone else, so he drove in towards the goal and shot. Shadow grabbed the ball as soon as he could and threw it to Espio. Espio went invisible, which greatly confused Monty Mole, and got himself near Wario. Dry Bones managed to stick with him though and tried to get the ball back. Too bad for the chameleon that the dead Koopa kicked him in the ankle.

"NARGH!" Espio wailed, falling to the ground as he returned to sight and grabbed his ankle. Dry bones just shrugged and ran the other way. Waluigi pushed himself off of Silver and cheered. "Way to go!"

"that's not a good thing!" Silver called after. Dry Bones prepared to shoot again, but Charmy dove in front of the ball and claimed it for himself. The little bee made a beeline for the opposite goal, swerving around Monty mole and through Waluigi's legs. Charmy made a bold kick at Wario, but Wario was back in this and managed to catch the ball. Charmy pouted angrily while Wario heaved the ball over to Waluigi. Waluigi jumped into the air and charged the ball from there, lobbing it toward Shadow's goal. Shadow jumped up as well and caught it, giving it back to Silver.

Silver ran like he was running for his life, the shouts from the crowd becoming increasing louder to him. So much pressure…

He winced.

He also wasn't paying attention and tripped over Monty Mole, whose plan was executed perfectly. The mole took control of the ball while Espio and Charmy started to catch up with him.

"ah ah ah…" Waluigi said as he ran in front of them, using his Super Ability again. This practically divided the field in two, placing Waluigi, Monty Mole, and Dry Bones on the side with Shadow's goal- and also the ball.

"Well that's just great…" Silver growled, punching the ground. "Why can't I win this? ! GRAH!"

"Don't worry Silver!" Charmy comforted. "Espio's on the other side of the wall…and I can fly over!"

"I suppose that's great, but I'm afraid this won't turn out well…"

Charmy said no more and flew over the wall to assist Espio, who wasn't detected at all thanks to Waluigi's overconfidence blinding him. Shadow prevented another goal from being made by catching it, but he knew he couldn't hand onto the ball forever, and he also couldn't get it all the way over the vine wall either. Waluigi was tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'm waaaaaaiting!"

Shadow's eyes lit up in fury as he twitched, bringing his arm with the ball back behind him.

"Want the ball?" he asked sinisterly, chucking the ball full force at Waluigi's face. "HERE!"

The plumber toppled over backwards from the force of the ball, Espio leaping over Dry Bones' head and obtaining the ball. He lobbed it up to Charmy, then proceeded to hack the vine wall down with his ninja stars. Waluigi grabbed Espio's leg while rubbing his forehead and pulling him down.

"Waluigi won't let you get away with this!"

"You heard Silver," Espio grunted back, flipping himself over and shaking Waluigi off of him. "He's going to win because he has a ninja on his team!"

"Get going!" Waluigi shouted to Monty Mole and Dry Bones, and the three of them scurried off after the other team. Charmy gave the ball back down to Espio, who signaled Silver to get ready. Silver exchanged a nod with him and ran closer to the goal. Wario finally sensed something interesting on the horizon and got himself into a position where he could move easily- which was a very rare position. Espio kicked the ball up, cuing Silver to jump for it, but right as he went to shoot the ball into the net, Waluigi jumped up as well and tackled Silver.

"What do you think you're doing? !"

"Preventing you from winning!"

Silver still managed to kick the ball, and everything seemed to slow into slow motion. Waluigi and Silver stayed suspended in the air, watching the ball soar closer and closer to Wario. It was targeted for the upper part of the net. Wario lunged as high as he could jump to stop it, but he came up a few centimeters too short, and the ball landed softly in the net.

Time sped up again as the game ended, Waluigi and Silver quickly crashing to the ground in a heap. It took the duo a while to process what had happened, and when they did, Silver launched himself into the air and flew around like a firework.

"Yeah, how's that? I totally won!" He hovered over Waluigi's stunned expression and put on a huge grin. "You know that I am not to be trifled with.

Shadow, on the other side of the field, looked faint. "This must be a sign of something…Silver WON! On the bright side, he did score on Wario…"

A camera man quickly ran up to Waluigi just as he was starting to walk off the field with his head hung low. However, he noticed the camera spying on him, and in a flash he whirled around, his mustache sticking out on end, shouted, "CHEESE!", and punched the camera right in the lens.

**In the Lounge-**

"I feel on top of the world!" Silver cheered, taking a water bottle from Mario and guzzling it promptly. Charmy flew in, looking doubly tired.

"Please tell me I'm not in the next match too…" he groaned. "Two in a row is enough!"

Vector walked over and patted him. "Ya did great, Charmy! I know for sure I'm back in the game next time, but I'm not all too sure about who my other teammate is…"

"…and that's a point for yours truly's team," Sonic announced, writing on the white board. It was the only thing that survived Omega's rampage, but the robot was quick to fix everything up once Peach chewed him out for it. Rouge, on the other hand, saw the damage and figured that there was no way Petey could have lasted such an attack! She pulled Omega to the side and jumped up and down excitedly.

"Didja dispatch who I told you to?"

"Affirmative. Peewee is no longer a threat."

Rouge wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Ah, that's really good to hear. Now-"

Petey then strolled into the lounge, looking more alive than ever. Rouge's excited look quickly morphed into one of fear and disappointment as she turned back to Omega.

"E-123...can you tell me why that large green plant is still walking around and breathing?"

"Large plant thing is Petey. Petey has been scanned. Petey is not a threat."

"You idiot!" Rouge shirked, accidentally catching Petey's attention. The Piranha came running over eagerly and nearly crushed Rouge in one of his hugs as he started purring again. "Omega! Make yourself useful this time and get him away from me!"

"Like what has been stated before, there is no threat."

Rouge was too busy being 'tortured' to even consider who Omega had 'annihilated'…

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Waluigi and Wario were engaged in an epic shouting match.

"Wario, it's your fault we lost because you're too stinkin' short!" Waluigi hissed. "If you were but an inch taller, you would have caught the ball!"

"You're the one that didn't play smart and let your stupid ego get the best of you!" Wario yelled back. Waluigi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Whatever happened to "Silver can't make a shot to save his life"? And who was the one that SILVER MADE SIX SHOTS ON?"

"Hey, I-"

"I was so right! You brought me down, and I was right about you being an atrocious goalie!"

"Dude, go take five in the locker room or something," Yoshi scoffed, pulling Waluigi away. Wario blew a raspberry after him.

. . .

Sonic was finishing writing the stats while Shadow stood next to him ranting up a storm.

"…the true reason Silver won was because_ I_ was his absolutely fantastic goalie-"

"Quiet Shadow, your over-exaggerated gloating is making me lose focus."

Shadow put on a highly offended look and stormed off. "Well then!"

"Personally I thank…THE NINJA!" Silver yelled dramatically. Shadow just glowered at him.

Sonic sighed in relief, and finally finished writing the next set of stats with his cobalt blue marker. Cream skipped up to him and admired his work.

"Wow, that sure looks great Mr. Sonic!"

"Thank you, Cream, hopefully it won't be utterly destroyed this time…"

"Say, by the way, who's going to be playing in the next match?"

Sonic smiled. "It's going to be you, as a matter of fact."

Cream grinned in excitement. "Cool! And who am I up against? Is it Toad?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news…" Sonic started, bending down to Cream's level. "The good news is that Toad is on your team."

"Sweet! But…what's the bad news?"

Sonic pointed behind Cream. "The bad news is who you're up against…"

Cream blinked and glanced over her shoulder- she saw Junior telling Knuckles to stay away from a certain container of nachos while at the same time coaxing Toad to take at least two. Knuckles kept on trying to sneak one as Toad was constantly refusing. Cream realized what Sonic meant and felt her eyes grow wide.

"I'm against Bowser Junior?" she gawked. Sonic nodded.

"Um, yeah…"

* * *

**This was fun to write. :P**


	5. The Match of Unexpectations

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

The Match of Unexpectations

_Match 3: Cream the Rabbit vs. Bowser Junior_  
_Goalies: Blaze the Cat and…?_  
_Stadium: Galactic Stadium_  
_Current Score: Mario- 1, Sonic- 1_

"For the last time you red thing, these nachos are for TOAD!" Junior screeched, dumping a can of soda on Knuckles' head.

"Dude, I just want one! And who are you calling a 'red thing'?" Knuckles snapped back. "I'm an Echidna! And also covered in lemon-lime soda pop!"

"I am not eating those nachos either," Toad stated firmly. "You probably poisoned them or something!"

Junior just scoffed. "No, these are perfectly normal nachos that I wanted to give to you before your match! It's not like they're made with cheese that's designed to make Toads drowsy or anything, I promise!"

Toad stared hard at Bowser Jr. "Yeah, I think I'm going to skip out on the nachos…"

"NO! Just eat one!"

"I'd eat one if you'd let me _have_ one!" pouted Knuckles.

"Junior!" Mario exclaimed, running up to the Koopa Prince. Junior slammed the nachos down on the table (either not caring or not noting that Knuckles started to devour them) and turned to the plumber.

"What do you want? I'm busy!"

"Hello? Your match is happening right now!"

Junior's annoyed expression disappeared in a flash. "WHAT! Why do _I_ have to go next?"

"Tell it to the randomizer. Now, do you have your goalie picked out?"

"Hee hee, of course I do…" Junior slowly started to grin sinisterly, and he almost looked just like his father. "Here, I'll go get my goalie and go get ready, all right?"

Mario looked at Junior suspiciously, but he didn't sense any harm. "All right…but if you don't have a goalie by the time the match starts you'll be disqualified."

Junior just walked away. "I'll have a goalie all right, mind you…with my goalie, the other team ain't getting any shots offa him! Hee hee hee hee!"

. . .

Cream looked around unsurely at her surroundings, not sure what to think of the Stadium that had been selected for her.

"I have to admit…I was expecting something a lot less…ominous…"

"I agree," Blaze said, standing in the goal. "It's pretty quiet here too…there's no place for anyone to sit and watch…"

Cream pointed over to the left side of the stadium, where the other fifteen players were lined up at the edge of the field, just beyond the fence. Whether there was seating or not, they weren't going to let anything prevent them from watching. They just had to be careful not to get _too_ close to the electric fence.

"Galactic Stadium's the final Stadium, you know…" Hammer Bro. explained as he walked up with Dry Bones. "As eerie as it looks, there's nothing to fear in it except the electric fence."

"Think of it like a high-tech version of The Vice!" Toad exclaimed, walking up behind Cream with Vector in tow. The armor Toad was dressed with had Cream's color scheme. She smiled lightly and ran up to him.

"You're not going to, well, make me lose to help out Mario's team, are you?" Cream asked quietly. Toad violently shook his head.

"Of course not! Who planted _that_ thought into your head?"

"Junior, right before I came to the Stadium."

"The sidekick's job is to make sure that the team they're currently on wins, not to work as some double agent," Toad explained. "So, I'll work to the best of my ability to make sure we come out on top!"

Cream smiled. "Thank you, Toad, that's good to know!"

"Let's start this thing already!" shouted Knuckles, who was heard ten times as loud due to the lack of screaming fans. Cream silently nodded, then skipped up to the center of the field.

"Okay then, here I go!"

"If we win this, you will tell your mother that I helped you, right?" Vector asked eagerly. Before Cream could think up any sort of reply to that, Hammer Bro. pointed above the stadium enthusiastically, Dry Bones looking up and hopping around. When the opposing team did as well, a Surf Rock theme began to play as Bowser Jr. fell from the sky. He landed on his shell, but instead of showing any signs of pain, he spun around in a break dancing fashion then stopped with his head resting on a hand while laying on his side.

He then did a double take when he saw Cream staring down at him in shock.

"WHAT! I'm against _Cream_? Why was I not informed of this? ! WHY?" he started to yell, standing back up and dancing around in disbelief. He even started spewing weak fireballs around in anger. "Grrrrr! RAWR!"

"What's wrong with that, Junior?" Cream asked innocently. Junior whirled around and put on a serious face.

"A lot of things! They couldn't find anyone better to put me up against? And you have Toad! And I don't want to face a girl!"

Cream's innocent look vanished and was replaced with a slightly terrifying one. It made Junior take a few steps back.

"You'd be surprised, Junior…"

"I already am surprised! I…I…I don't_ wanna _verse you!"

Cream struck a battle pose and stared Junior down. "Well too bad! If you think I'm such an easy challenge, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, huh?"

"No, that's not it, I-"

"Hey, Junior!" Toad called, poking his head out from behind Cream. "Where's your goalie at? You can't even play without one! You're disqualified!"

"No he's not," Hammer Bro. pointed out. "The game only starts when the ball is put into play, which it hasn't."

"Besides," Junior continued, now smirking as another blimp arrived overhead. "He's here now!"

Cream was bewildered, along with the rest of her team. "Huh? Wha-"

Junior's Surf Rock theme was replaced with a Hard Rock one, and everyone looked up. Junior was looking very pleased with himself while Cream wasn't feeling all-too pumped up anymore.

Out of the sky fell Bowser, a menacing look plastered to his face and his hands donning large metallic claws that were enough to make anyone queasy. He landed in front of the goal post and let out a roar that definitely outdid Bowser Jr.'s twenty times over.

"B-_Bowser's _your goalie…?" squeaked Cream. Junior nodded.

"Awesome, right? No one fit the job better than my dad! After he ran off from an embarrassing loss, and after I was shunned because no one wanted to be my goalie or have me be theirs, I talked to him about it, and he was **happy **to fill the position!"

"No one disgraces my son like that!" Bowser roared from the goal. "And if some puny little girl thinks she can beat him in a match, gra ha ha, she is sadly mistaken!"

"Is anyone else suddenly very frightened?" Vector gulped.

"I am, that's a given!" chirped Toad.

"So he has a good goalie…" Cream trailed. "We can still win, right?"

Vector and Toad gave her big grins. She sweat dropped.

The ball was thrown into play after Bowser was situated in the goal.

. . .

"Oh boy, this is going to be a good one!" exclaimed Silver, downing some popcorn. "I don't even care that we can't sit down!"

"C'mon, was anyone expecting Bowser?" Luigi asked, raising a hand. "I wasn't."

"But if you think about it, who else was he going to pick?" asked Amy.

"May the stars have mercy on the girl's soul…" Yoshi sniffed.

"What're you talking about? You're acting like they'll kill her or something!" Shadow exclaimed.

"Well, a Bowser and Bowser Jr. father-son combo does seem to be devastating…" shrugged Waluigi.

"Cream's a trooper! I'm sure she can handle it," Sonic replied confidently.

. . .

Junior was in a state of disbelief once again. Cream had shoved him out of the way and taken off with the ball. The young prince had no words to describe what he felt besides stunned. Toad even had to jump in front of him and snap his fingers to get him to get focused. When Junior snapped out of it, he quickly swatted Toad away.

"Nyeah….whaddya think you're doing?"

"You seemed appalled."

"I was! I didn't need your help though, so hmph!"

Toad just stared as Junior ran off, grumbling to himself.

Meanwhile, Cream was still in possession of the ball and not allowing Bowser's fearsome physique to faze her. She alternated passes with Vector to charge up the ball, successfully avoiding Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones' attempts to steal it away. Vector went to make a shot, but the smug look on Bowser's face made him miss completely. The Koopa King caught the ball effortlessly and let out a hearty guffaw, tossing it just as effortlessly into the air.

"How can we even think we're going to make a goal?" winced Toad. "He takes up just about the entire net!"

"Like this, Toad!" Cream cried, flying up into the air. She caught the ball that Bowser tossed upwards with the top of her foot, then smirked as she looked back down.

"Hey! Get back down here so I can take the ball from you!" Junior demanded. Cream shook her head.

"No, I don't think so!"

She did a fast paced spin in the air, sending the ball flying downwards like a comet. Bowser turned around, allowing the ball to ricochet off his shell. Cream lowered herself from the air, kicking the ball again karate style. Bowser twirled around and smacked the ball away with his large hands. Junior claimed it, but Vector nudged him out of the way and passed to Toad. Toad waved to Cream and passed it back to her. Junior, in a blind rage, tried his best to kick the ball away from her, but Cream was too much for him and he ended up tripping himself.

"Wah…"

Cream passed to Toad, who faked a shot and made Bowser crouch slightly to the right for a brief moment. During this brief moment, the upper left part of the net was left unprotected. Quickly, Vector gave the ball back to Cream via lobbing it in the air, and Cream flew up to greet the ball with her foot. Bowser swiftly up righted himself, feeling the metal ball glance against his shoulder…but to his horror it rolled off behind him and tumbled into the net.

"Woo hoo! Yay!" Cream cheered, throwing her hands into the air and running around her team. Bowser was burning the ground around him while Junior was on the verge of a fit. He saw flying cameras trying to get the moment in instant replay, so he ran after them, swatting with his little hands. He lunged for one, but he slid against the ground instead and started to pound at it.

. . .

"Wow, did you see that?" Tails wailed, almost throwing himself into the electric fence to get a closer look because he couldn't believe it.

"That was incredible!" gaped Mario.

"I told ya!" Sonic said proudly.

"That was smart, I will admit," Daisy confessed.

"Way to go, Cream!" Amy whooped.

. . .

"Nice move, Cream!" Toad congratulated.

"Thanks. Hopefully we can keep this up!"

Junior gained possession of the ball and glared at Cream and Toad exchanging a high-five. Well, they certainly weren't going to win on his watch! He turned to Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones, whispering a quick plan. The two nodded eagerly, unable to see how such a plan couldn't work. When they weren't looking, Junior kicked it backward to Hammer Bro., who then used his Deke several times. He threw large hammers at the ground, hitting Cream, Toad, and Vector and leaving them dazed. This opened up a path straight to Blaze, who was already not that strong of a goalie. Junior knew this, and it made him grin sinisterly.

"All right, let execute the rest of this bad boy!"

Hammer Bro. passed to Dry Bones, who passed back to Hammer Bro., who passed back to Junior. All the passing was making Blaze uneasy, but what unnerved her the most was seeing Bowser Jr. punt the ball upwards and take off after it, sporting a bright yellowish aura. Cream watched in awe while Toad nearly fainted.

"Oh great, he using his Super Strike…"

"But why so early?" questioned Vector.

"Hey, anytime is a good time to use a Super Strike," Hammer Bro. responded.

Bowser Jr. hovered in the air, the ball floating right in front of him as the armor around his wrists and ankles shattered off. He then let out an indescribable scream, one that was strong enough to break the ball into five separate ones. Blaze was completely lost when it came to being goalie, and Cream could definitely tell. There was no saying that she didn't try, however, unlike Wario…

She dove to the left, just missing the first ball and missing the second when she was slow to get back up. She jumped up for the third, but it flew between her arms. Blaze cringed, obviously discouraged, when she tried to stop the fourth but it hit the net after brushing against her fingertips. The fifth landed on the ground like a dud, yet bounced up and rolled into the net. Blaze never even seen it.

. . .

"Yow, I knew Blaze wasn't that skilled of a goalie, but…yow," Knuckles recoiled.

"Well, not everyone is you, Knuckles!" Amy and Silver huffed at him with their arms folded. Knuckles held up his hands.

"Whoa, why are ya ganging on me? All I said was-"

"I wonder why that fool used his Super Strike at the beginning of the game, though…" Wario muttered.

"Maybe he did so because he thinks that Cream can't catch up?" Yoshi suggested. "I dunno…"

"Junior should look out- Cream is a tough cookie…" Mario trailed.

. . .

"Well great. We're down by four now!" sighed Vector. Blaze looked regretful in the goal.

"Sorry Cream…that was awful…"

"You'll do better next time!" Cream assured, claiming the ball as it was rolled toward her. Blaze tilted her head.

"How can you be so sure?"

Cream just shrugged, then started to focus on the game again. Dry Bones was constantly throwing himself at her, making her lose the ball a few times. But whenever he tried to pass to Junior or Hammer Bro., Vector and Toad would always get in the way. However, at one point Vector was trying to pass to Cream but Junior jumped in front of her and obtained the ball for himself.

"Hee hee hee…"

He ran eagerly back toward Blaze, knowing he could at least get another shot off of her. He wasn't expecting Cream to fly over him, land in front of him, then cause him to trip again. She swept the ball into her possession, kicked it over Junior, and ran back to Bowser. Junior just sat on the ground in a daze.

"What…"

"C'mon!" Cream shouted, shooting toward the goal. Bowser caught the ball and threw it away. Toad got the ball and attempted a shot as well. Bowser trapped it with his claws and chucked it right back. Vector aimed to get it in the goal through Bowser's legs, but the Koopa King pulled off a shocking move by stopping it with his tail and knocking back.

"See? The one goal you scored was a lucky fluke!" Bowser chortled.

"I'll do it again! Just watch me!" Cream shot back, running at Bowser again and kicking toward the goal. Bowser once again stopped it and threw the ball at Hammer Bro. Toad was right there to knock it toward Vector by using his head, and Vector attempted a shot again. Bowser burst out into laughter at their feeble attempts and caught the ball once again.

"Now, you watch this…" Bowser chuckled darkly as the ball suddenly turned white. Everyone around Bowser had to take a few steps back as he shot himself into the air, a jet of fire rising from where he had once stood. Junior, who was still on the other side of the field, grinned to himself.

"Awesome. I hope I can do that one day!"

Bowser was surrounded by fire as he held the ball with one clawed hand, then shot it down toward Bowser Jr. Junior was so ready for this. He did a flip in the air at the right time, hitting the ball with the heel of his foot and sending it straight into the net. Blaze fell to the ground in shame while Junior grinned in spite of himself.

. . .

"6-1? !" Amy gaped.

"Is it even legal for a goalie to make a goal?" Rouge demanded to know.

"Technically, Junior made that goal-" Yoshi tried to point out.

"Yeah, with a whole lotta help from his pa!" cried Knuckles.

. . .

Cream regained possession of the ball, grimacing slightly when Junior and his cronies started advancing upon her. Thinking fast, she passed the ball back to Vector and started running.

"This would be a great time to forfeit…" Junior sang to Cream running by.

"No way! The match isn't over yet!"

"Do you really think you can make a goal on my dad?"

"I did it once!"

"You were just lucky that time," Junior scoffed.

"Well, then maybe I'll get lucky again!" Cream exclaimed, receiving the ball back from Vector and running back at Bowser. Junior frowned a bit before sucking in a lot of air.

"I really hate to do this, Cream…"

Cream took off like a rocket, passing the ball back and forth with Toad, weaving in between Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones. Eventually Toad was starting to reach the goal and faked a shot, causing Bowser to adjust his position and leave Toad with an open spot. Toad passed to Cream, and Cream prepared to shoot until-

"CAAAAAAAAAH!"

. . .

"What in this world? !" Tails yelled, pressing his ears to his head.

"His super ability…" moaned Mario, holding his hands against his ears.

"Certainly is an ear blowing maneuver…" grunted Rouge, ears pressed to her head as well.

"Oh, poor Toad!" Peach exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"This better wear off soon…" murmured Knuckles.

. . .

"GAH! What the heck? !" roared Vector, being caught in Junior's loud blast. He suddenly found himself becoming rather tiny, along with Toad and Cream as well. Cream tried to kick the ball, but with her new small size, that wasn't exactly possible. Junior chuckled to himself, stole the ball, and ran back down to Blaze's end.

"Now I have nothing to worry about for awhile!" Junior sighed, running casually down the desolate field. Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones were trotting alongside him if needed. Blaze saw them coming and placed her heels on the line. She tried to look threatening, but all it did was mask her insecurity.

"There's no way we're catching up with them while they're all the way down then," groaned Vector.

"B-But there's gotta be something we can do!" Toad protested.

"We're microscopic, man!" Vector wailed. "What can we possibly do?"

Cream said nothing as she watched Blaze block the ball with her arms, then again with the side of her leg. Junior grunted in frustration until he passed it to Hammer Bro., who tossed a large hammer at Blaze, discombobulated her, and slammed the ball into the net.

"Yeah!" Junior cheered, spinning his head around in circles until he got dizzy. Blinking it off, he just threw up his hands and let out another cheer.

"Seven to one…" Vector murmured sadly. They had now returned back to normal size, but there was no room to celebrate. Toad turned to Cream, who didn't look upset, just perplexed.

"Have any ideas, Cream?"

"Kind of…" she walked back to the middle of the field to claim the ball. "But I'm afraid it won't work…"

"It's gotta be worth a try," Vector suggested. Cream nodded.

"Yes, it is."

The ball rolled back into her possession and she almost instantly passed to Toad. The three of them charged toward Junior, Hammer Bro., and Dry Bones, with Hammer Bro. running at Toad and fighting to steal the ball. Toad practically danced around, turning and spinning to avoid losing the ball. When Hammer Bro. ended up slipping and falling, he grunted and pulled out a hammer.

"Give me that BALL!"

He threw the hammer, making designated contact with Toad. Toad stumbled to the ground as Dry Bones swooped in and claimed the ball. He passed it to Junior, and he was flawlessly taking off down the field again.

"Not again…" whimpered Toad. Cream didn't despair- she simply whistled and Cheese appeared by her side.

"Chao chao?"

"I need you to call up some of your friends, okay?"

"Chao!"

"Cream, what're you doing?" Vector asked. Cream simply pointed at Junior and whispered:

"Chao Attack."

"CHAO CHAO!"

"Huh?"

Junior looked up to see Cream's pet hovering over his shoulder and snickered.

"A cute little puff ball is what she's going to send out to stop me?"

Cheese seemed to smirk as the ground started to rumble. When Junior looked back again, he saw a large mass of white, black, and blue Chao charging right at him. He let out a scream as the Dark Chao tackled him, leaving small bites all up and down his arms. The Hero Chao scooped up the ball and dropped it at Cream's feet while half of the Normal Chao held off Hammer Bro. and Dry Bones while the other half threw themselves at Bowser.

"Away! AWAY!" Bowser boomed, using Fire Away on them to almost no avail. A few of them were scorched, but in general, the move barely left a mark.

"Quick, now Cream!" yelled Vector. Cream nodded and charged the ball until it was white, then took off into the air. She shined yellow for a few moments before swinging her leg back, then slamming it into six separate balls aimed at the net.

Bowser missed the first two thanks to the Normal Chao, and by the time he finally shooed them off, the third ball had sunk into the net. He growled and caught the fourth between his massive claws, but that prevented him from stopping the fifth ball. Furious, he jumped up to stop the last ball, but it slammed into his stomach, sent him tumbling into the net, and caused the ball to bounce off his massive belly and plop into the net as well.

. . .

"Way to go, Cream!" Sonic shouted, throwing his hands up. "So much for not making a goal- she just scored five!"

"Yeah, well, the score's still seven to six," grumbled Wario.

"Cream can still catch up!" Amy assured.

"Oh yeah? You really think Bowser's going to let her off that easy?" Daisy asked with a smirk.

"She's unpredictable- you never know," shrugged Knuckles.

"I never thought I'd say this, but hang in there, Junior!" cried Peach.

"SCREEEEEECH!"

"Petey's enraged, apparently."

. . .

"Papa, what was THAT? !" Junior shrieked, stomping up to his father and glaring.

"It was those stupid flying things!" Bowser roared. "They threw off my focus!"

"Just don't get distracted again! We're _this_ close to winning!"

"Like I'm going to let that munchkin score on me again," grunted Bowser.

Junior grunted something under his breath as the ball was rolled to him. He passed to Dry Bones as he tried to come up with some sort of strategy. Toad was by Hammer Bro., ready to block a pass, while Vector was sticking close to Dry Bones and trying to claim the ball.

And then there was Cream, who was skipping down the field in a completely unserious fashion, as if the game was no big deal at all. Junior was so caught up in thinking about how maybe it _wasn't_ so serious himself that he was conked in the head by a pass from Dry Bones.

"Erm…oops…" murmured the skeleton. Junior shook it off however and claimed the ball before it was taken away. Cream was suddenly right next to him though, kicking at him like crazy in mad attempts to get the ball back.

"Ack, CHILL!" Junior cried, feverishly swatting at Cream to get her to back off.

"I refuse to let you make another goal!" Cream declared, finally seizing the ball and bolting off. Junior growled and took off after. Hammer Bro. bumped into Cream several times, but Cream bumped right back and eventually knocked Hammer Bro. right over. Vector and Hammer Bro. exchanged glances.

"Sheesh, she doesn't even need us!" gawked Toad.

This was proven to be the contrary when Cream passed to Toad, who passed to Vector, who passed back to Cream. Cream took a shot at Bowser, who repelled it away all too easily. Vector shot, Bowser blocked. Toad caught the rebound, shot, and Bowser blocked. Dry Bones stole the ball, Vector snagged it back, shot, and Bowser blocked.

"Grah ha ha ha ha!" Bowser cackled, tossing the ball back out of the net. "You've put up a decent fight, but there's no hope now! There's no way a little girl like you can do anything to a powerhouse like myself!"

"Even though she has already?" snarled Junior while face palming.

Cream's eyes narrowed in determination as Toad snatched he ball from Dry bones and passed to her. She took a few steps back, took aim with her foot, and let it sail towards the net. With a "POW", it didn't exactly strike the net…

It struck Bowser in an area that caused him to lose all breath and lurch forward, falling flat on the ground in pain.

And leaving the goal wide open.

Cream, with a pouty look on, lobbed the ball upwards, then had Toad jump up, spin, and slam it into the net.

. . .

Mario had a horrified look on his face while Sonic was doubled over in laughter. Daisy just shook her head.

"I can't believe she had the nerve to do that…"

"Talk about exploiting a weakness," Shadow said seriously, yet still sent Knuckles and Silver into a fit of laughter.

"It was kinda funny…" chuckled Yoshi.

"But we're-a gonna lose, mama mia!" wailed Luigi.

"It's not over yet!" barked Peach.

"Yeah, duh, the score is tied," Wario huffed with his arms folded.

. . .

"DAAAAAAD!" whined Junior, stomping his foot chaotically. "How embarrassing!"

"You wanna go through what I just experienced?" Bowser gritted through his teeth.

"I thought you said nothing could get by you, huh? She just owned you in one shot!"

"Lay-off, son, or there'll be punishment when we get home!"

"Urgh, we're gonna have to go into a sudden death…" Junior moaned, glancing at the clock. There were only forty seconds left, and he wondered if it would be enough time to pull off a miracle. When he returned to middle of Galactic Stadium, Toad and Vector were chuckling to themselves while Cream had her arms folded. She donned a smug smirk, and it made Junior furious.

"C'mon, we can still pull through," Hammer Bro. said, trying to stay positive.

"Shoot, we _will_ pull through," Junior sneered back, glancing behind him to see if his father was back on his feet. Once he was, Junior ran down the middle of the field, instantly being cut off by Cream. He veered to the right and ran into Vector, who stole the ball and began to run the other way. Dry Bones slammed into him and claimed the ball, only for Toad to trip _him_ and start running again.

. . .

"This isn't Hot Potato!" shouted Silver.

"Someone get to a goal already!" yelled Daisy.

. . .

Toad was almost back at Bowser again, ready to go in for a shot. However, right before he was about to kick, Junior appeared from nowhere and shoved him to ground.

"Not today, mushroom-man!" the prince yelled, taking the ball for himself. Toad scowled darkly and tried to trip Junior, but he cleverly jumped over Toad's leg and started to run off again.

Cream, on the other side of the field, had seen what had happened, and wasn't about to let Junior get away with it. She called upon Cheese again, who in turn called upon his Chao friends as Cream shouted, "CHAO ATTACK!"

Just like before, some rained down onto Junior, while some attacked Bowser. Even while he was surrounded by a swarm of Chao, Junior fought against the Dark Chao injuring him and the Hero Chao trying to take the ball away.

"Junior, you have to shoot!" Junior heard Hammer Bro.'s voice from beyond the surround Chao. "There's only ten seconds left!"

"But I can't see!"

"Just shoot- Dry Bones and I have the way clear, and we're confident you can make a half-field shot!"

"Five seconds left!" shouted Dry Bones.

"I…I…"

"Shoot, Junior!"

This voice was not Hammer Bro.'s nor Dry Bones'- it was Cream's. Whether she wanted Junior to shoot to get it over with or just because she wanted a chance to steal the ball, Junior gathered up all the power he could muster and unleashed it when he kicked the ball. He prayed and prayed and prayed that it would hit the net, because with the Chao blocking his way, he couldn't even see that.

However, a "poomph" was heard moments later, followed by the buzzer, and a bit of cheering. Junior, in his excitement, scared off all the Chao and started running around doing a victory lap.

"You did it, Junior! You made a half-field goal!" Hammer Bro. exclaimed, though somewhat wearily.

"Yeah," snorted Dry Bones. "IN. THE. WRONG. NET."

Junior froze in midair, turning his gaze down to his dad's end of the field. Bowser was gaping in the net, all previous pain he had felt earlier completely forgotten and replaced with shock.

To his left was the ball, resting softly against the net.

And Junior was pretty sure that it wasn't anyone on Cream's team that had made that goal.

"Well I'll be…" sighed Vector.

"I think my heart skipped a beat…" trailed Toad, grabbing his chest and nearly fainting.

Cream stared wide-eyed at the Koopa prince and whispered softly, "Junior…?"

"NOOOOO!"

He shook his head madly, then swatted vigorously once again at the cameras that were filming his rampage. He attempted to smack one right out of the air, but his lunge was futile, for he landed on the ground and sent dust into the air. He pounded at the ground, enraged, before running right up to his goalpost with a battle cry and giving it a harsh kick.

Obviously he didn't learn from last time, because his already sore foot now hurt twice as much.

"Oh, oooh ooh oh…"

. . .

"Well, who saw THAT coming?" Sonic asked, changing the score to be 1-2 back in the lounge. "First Bowser got a ball to the bad spot followed by his son making a shot in his own goal!"

"Plus Cream managed to score on the big, bad, Bowser after all that bragging," Amy pointed out. The two of them glanced at Cream, who was bandaging Junior's sore foot from one too many pole-kickings.

"It was honestly a good game Junior," Cream began when she was finished with his foot. "You're quite the athlete!"

"Hmph, you're just saying that because I literally helped you win," Junior grunted back. Cream shook her head.

"No, if you were facing the other way, you would have definitely scored on Blaze," she then blushed and scratched the back of her head. "Erm…sorry, Blaze…"

Blaze, who had been walking by, just shrugged. "No offense taken, Cream."

Bowser had already left once again, though whether it was from his pain "down south", the fact he let his own son score on him, or both, no one knew. He had left as soon as his shock and surprise had worn off. Not even Bowser Jr. noticed him take his leave, but everyone knew he wouldn't have stayed for very long.

"Can I just go home now?" Junior winced. "I played my match, and I'm not goalie for anyone…"

"Aw, Junior, you tried your best that game, you really did!" Peach assured, placing her hands on his shoulders once again. "Even when you were under pressure, you thought quickly."

"Then scored in my own goal and lost the game; that's something to be proud of too," Junior jeered sarcastically.

"Now that's no way to talk! Be glad that you managed to hang in there like that!"

"And I'd like you to stay, Junior," Cream added, getting Junior's eyes to widen. "You should at least stay to see who's going to win overall."

"…if I do," he started slowly and cautiously. "…can I sit next to you?"

Cream nodded. "Okay! Maybe you can tell me how you did that one kick and how you roar like that!"

"S-sure, I guess…I AM pretty impressive…"

"Wow, Junior's taking getting beaten by a girl WAY easier than I anticipated," Luigi said to Tails, who nodded in agreement. Junior overhead them and instantly jumped out of his seat to chase them down, only to sit right back down when he put pressure on his sore foot.

"Ugh, whatever…yo, Sonic, who's playing next?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Sonic exclaimed, jumping up onto the table. "We must ask…the Randomizer!"

"The what-"

Mario brought out a small calculator-looking piece of equipment and excitedly waved it around. Sonic took it from him, typed in the names of the remaining people who still had to play, then pushed a large red button.

"Within moments, this little baby will give us a name!" Sonic explained.

"But wait, there's more!" added Mario.

"That's right, the Randomizer also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a pizza shooter!"

Sonic pushed an orange button, causing a slice of pizza to suddenly materialize. Wario was over there in a flash to devour it instantly. He quickly gave a thumbs up.

"It's good!"

"And let's see what unfortunate soul- I mean, lucky contestant will be next to battle it out on the field!" Sonic announced. Mario looked down on the screen and smirked.

"Ah, looks like it's Rouge and Petey next-"

"Wait, really? !" Sonic gaped. "I totally thought it'd be Knuckles and Yoshi next!"

Mario blinked. "Er, why?"

"Well for one, we're the goalies for them, and two…I can't remember. But I'm still surprised!"

"Ooh, this should be pleasant to watch…" Daisy snickered, watching as Rouge stepped out of the locker room and Petey dancing around in the corner of the room.

"Hey Rouge!" Peach shouted, getting the bat's attention.

"Yeah, what?"

"Your match is next!"

Rouge blinked, realized who'd she be up against, took one good look at Petey, and bolted back into the locker room. Petey apparently saw her and eagerly followed, throwing out his leafy arms and accidentally erasing the white board once again when he ran by. Mario quickly put away the randomizer as Sonic stared hard at the white board and started to twitch.

"Easy, Sonic, you can rewrite it all over again-"

"I'd rather break a vending machine."

"Over my dead body!" barked Knuckles, suddenly standing protectively in front of the giant snack dispenser.

"So says the guy that broke the thing in the first place," Yoshi muttered.

"Hey! No one asked you!"

Sonic ignored the spat that was about to take place, solemnly grabbed his blue marker, and started rewriting everything from scratch. Again.

"Eh…can someone get Rouge out of the locker room before the match starts?" Mario asked. "I think it's going to take us awhile…"

* * *

**Sonic's not alone- I thought Knuckles and Yoshi were next too! Then I reread my notes and realized that Rouge and Petey had to come first, so what little I had of the Knuckles/Yoshi match has to be rewritten. Joy. :P**


	6. Batty and the Plant

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

Batty and the Plant

_Match 4: Petey Piranha vs. Rouge the Bat_  
_Goalies: Princess Peach and Amy Rose_  
_Stadium: The Lava Pit_  
_Current Score: Mario- 1, Sonic 2_

"Rouge!" Amy barked. "Don't make us use Petey to bash down this door!"

"No! Never!" Rouge's voice came from the other side. "There is no way I'm playing soccer against that THING!"

"What does Miss Rouge have against Mr. Petey? He's really nice!" Cream exclaimed.

"She's racist to plants!" Daisy yelled, throwing herself at the door in a mad attempt to get it open.

"I am not! And you know what else I'm not? Going out there!"

"Come on, Rouge, start acting mature about this," Blaze sighed.

"Mature? ! This_ is_ a mature way to handle not being glomped by a so-called plant!"

"Unlock the door!" shouted Amy.

"We WILL get Petey!" Peach threatened.

"Just get it over with and you won't have to worry about it anymore!" Daisy shrugged.

"Friend Rouge needs to exit. Now," Omega stated, entering the scene with guns placed to the door. "You have until three to remove yourself from the facility. One-"

Rouge opened the door and stepped out, but didn't move any farther than that. Big mistake on her part, for the other five girls grabbed her and dragged her out of the lounge and to the stadium. Omega trotted behind, guns locked on Rouge, while the bat struggled to break free.

"Against my will! Don't make me call the authorities!"

"Technically you ARE the authorities."

"Just get out there and kick around a ball."

. . .

"Ah, the Lava Pit…" sighed Yoshi. "So calm, so relaxing, so tranquil…"

"Yoshi, we're taking about a large death trap with tons of hot melted rock sloshing about in a moat that could disintegrate someone instantly with one drop. That's not really tranquil."

"My _gosh_ it's hot here!" huffed Silver, fanning himself constantly.

"You call_ this_ hot?" Blaze asked, returning from the whole Rouge escapade.

"C'mon people, place your bets on the winner!" Luigi exclaimed, fist held in the air. There was little discussion and just one unanimous exchange of glances before everyone turned back to Luigi and uttered:

"Petey, definitely."

. . .

Rouge was dragged out to the field by Omega, and cringed as the door shut behind them, locking them in until the match was over. Birdo was also on Rouge's team, waving at the bat. Ever since Rouge broke Birdo's wrist from trying to claim the dinosaur's diamond ring for herself, the two had been on thin ice, but it had gotten at least a little better.

"Ready for this, dear?" Birdo asked, seeing Rouge walk up and looking frazzled.

"As ready as I can get, I suppose…"

"You'd better not chicken out, Rouge," Amy huffed, getting situated in the goal.

"Are you kidding?" giggled Peach. "She was locked in the locker room! She won't last very long…"

"Opposing team scan. Scan reads Hammer bro.- offensive specialist. Scan reads Shy Guy- unpredictable fellow. Must keep eye on him."

"Was that necessary, Omega?" Rouge asked. Omega gave the equivalent of a shrug.

"It is good to keep tabs on the enemy."

Rouge folded her arms and looked to the sky. "Well, you better keep tabs on Petey! He's the one you need to look out for! And he better behave himself…"

As if on cue, a Calypso theme played throughout the stadium, and Hammer Bro. and Shy Guy were pointing frantically at what seemed the be a giant falling seed. When it splattered onto the ground, Rouge recoiled when Petey Piranha took shape and growled fiercely at Rouge.

"D-Do I really have to go through with this?"

"Scanners already indicated that Petey is harmless. Friend Rouge should have nothing to cower about."

"He's really nice if you get to know him," Birdo pointed out.

"I don't _want_ to get to know him!" Rouge shouted, kicking the ball as soon as it hit the ground. Being a playmaker, Rouge was already forming a plan in her mind, but anything she had just begun to register was shattered when Petey knocked her to the ground and hopped off with the ball. Rouge stumbled onto the hard ground and watched as Birdo and Omega took off after the opposing team.

Omega probably defied all rules by shooting at Petey to scare him a bit, but the Piranha was determined to get the ball down to the goal. Amy was waiting, somewhat impatiently, for the ball to come her way. Petey glanced around and passed to Hammer Bro., who used his Skill Shot to hammer down on Amy and leave the goal perfectly clear for him to shoot.

"HEY!" Amy snapped, standing up and rubbing her head.

"Sorry, it's 1-0 now!" Shy Guy exclaimed. "Heh heh heh…"

"Good job, Pinkie," Rouge scoffed, staring at Amy as she picked herself up off the ground.

"Hmph! That'd be more insulting if it didn't come from the girl who's afraid of the oversized plant!"

Rouge growled and received the ball. She sneered out "Whatever!" as she passed the ball to Birdo. The pink dino charged down the field, swerving away from Hammer Bro. and Shy Guy. Shy Guy made a few attempts to get the ball away from her, so she passed it to Omega. When Shy Guy approached Omega, the battle robot instantly held a gun in his direction, causing the masked avenger to back off instantly. Hammer Bro. saw how easily Shy Guy backed away and thought it to be smart to stay away from Omega. Omega approached Peach's side of the field, the princess in the goal donning a smirk. Omega, however, whirled his entire body around and stuck his foot out. The ball went flying like a comet into the net after Omega was done with it. Peach stumbled over backwards after seeing how close the ball was to hitting her.

. . .

"Well, this seems like it'll be interesting," Shadow said amusedly, actually paying attention this time.

"I'll say! They actually seem like a match for each other!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Rather than one leading in a landside and the other miraculously catching up?" Cream asked.

"That was only your match," Daisy stated. "Peach and Amy were pretty close but not quite neck and neck, and Silver and Waluigi managed to get stuck in a tie. Different scenarios, completely!"

"Well, I'm going to have some faith in Rogue, even if she will probably lose," declared Knuckles.

"Give it up, she's about to be owned by a plant."

"Just wait until I can say I told you so!"

. . .

"Good job Omega," Rouge said with a nod as Petey gained the ball. She was slightly glad that Petey couldn't talk, just so she wouldn't have to hear what he had to say…

…but, there _was_ his constant screeching.

"SCREEEECH!"

That was apparently his battle cry as he charged down the field, plowing right over Birdo and passing the ball to Hammer Bro. Hammer Bro. was doing pretty well in dribbling it until a large drop of lava came flying in his direction.

"LAVA! LAVA LAVA!" he screamed, veering away from it and toppling into the electric fence. Petey promptly face palmed, then stole the ball from Omega who had managed to claim it for himself.

"Lava?" Rouge asked, running to catch up with Petey.

"Yeah, didn't you know that lava occasionally lands on the court?" Birdo asked.

"…no."

A splash landed between them, causing both girls to cartwheel out of the way. Rouge wasn't quite fast enough, and ended up getting burned by the aftermath flames the droplet caused.

"AAAIIII!"

She grabbed her burning tail and charged about the field, colliding with members of the opposing team and her own. Unintentionally, she managed to block a shot Petey was about to take while simultaneously getting the ball to Omega. Omega was quick to get going, fending off the shifty Shy Guy trying to hinder his progress. He passed to Birdo, who managed to get pretty close to the goal. Hammer Bro. swooped in to steal the ball, but she kicked it to the left, faked a shot, then launched it into the goal via an egg. Petey frowned, turned away from the goal, and trudged sadly back to the middle of the field.

"One-two!" cheered Amy, dancing around in the goal. "Awesome!"

"We might not lose after all!" Rouge exclaimed with a small nod. She started to walk back to the middle of the field until she ran right into Petey. She jumped back, fearing he would glomp her or something again, but found just the opposite. He was snarling and glaring, staring down at Rouge like he wanted to toss her into the lava right then and there. She gulped and slowly backed away, thought more fear seemed to fill her when the ball was given to Petey.

The Piranha Plant made some sort of gargling noise before plowing forward, knocking Rouge right over again. He stormed toward the goal like a mad bull. Amy frowned and braced herself for impact. Omega dared to stand in his way, acting as a brick wall to Petey's charge. Petey ran right into the battle robot, thrashing and screeching and trying to get by. Omega pressed back, attempt to dislodge the ball from between Petey's tiny plant feet. Petey managed to wedge it away from Omega and get it to Hammer Bro., then proceeded to shove the robot right out of the way. Omega's eyes went to red and he readied his blasters.

"Petey is no threat. E-123 Omega can easily obliterate you."

"SCREEEECH!"

"Focus on the game, you two!" Shy Guy scolded as he ran up for the ball. Hammer Bro. passed, Birdo intercepted, but Petey stole it back. He kicked a power shot at the goal, but Amy grabbed it out of midair and tossed it toward Rouge. Just as Rouge was about to get it into her possession, Hammer Bro. jumped up, performed a flip in the air, and slammed the ball straight into the net.

"Impressive," Peach smirked as Rouge fell to the ground and wailed.

"Oh come on, the match has barely started and all of you are treating it like some sort of war!" Amy yelled.

"This IS war," Omega said seriously, glaring at the other team. "They must be brought down."

Amy face palmed as Rouge claimed the ball and lobbed it into the air. She flew after it, then kicked it straight down at Birdo. Birdo claimed it and started trotting down toward Peach. Shy Guy jumped in front of Birdo and startled her, but both of them ended up getting attacked by a stray splash of lava, followed by Shy Guy running straight into the electric fence. Rouge and Petey both saw the free-for-all ball and sprinted after it, but Hammer Bro. beat them both to it and started running toward Amy. Omega jumped in front of him, swung his arm at him, sent him flying into the electric fence, then took off with the ball. Just before he attempted to score on Peach, Petey tackled him into the electric fence and claimed the ball for himself.

. . .

"They sure seem to favor that electric fence…" Wario trailed.

"When did this turn into a wrestling match? !" Tails exclaimed.

"And when did Petey get so…violent?" wondered Cream.

"Hey, he's an aggressive player," Mario explained.

"Yeah, he doesn't lose easily," added Yoshi. "After all, he's actually the Strikers League Champion!"

"WHAT! ?" yelled Knuckles, lurching forward.

"Ooh, Rouge is definitely screwed," Shadow deduced with a shrug.

"Why did no one tell her that?" questioned Blaze, to which Daisy shrugged.

. . .

"B-Back off! I know your tricks!" Amy snapped, trying to look fierce. Petey just roared at her and kicked the ball in her direction with no interference. Amy blocked the ball easily and tried to lob it away, but Petey claimed it again quickly and shot it again. Amy blocked once more, then threw it to the opposite side. Petey intercept the ball once again, but when he went to shoot again, Rouge slammed into his side just as he kicked.

Ironically enough, Amy had to jump for the ball, but was a few precious moments too late.

"Three to two…" muttered Birdo as Petey started strutting around.

"The match is still young," Omega stated intelligently. Rouge just pouted.

"Oh, what do you know? We just need to win this to beat Petey! He's really getting on my nerves!"

"You're the playmaker. Make a play!"

"I've got an idea. Just you wa-"

"RARGH!"

"HEY!" "OW!"

Petey tilted back and forth, slamming his head into Rouge and Birdo and making them extremely dizzy. Omega managed to seize the ball before Petey got to it, but the robot ended up losing it anyway.

"No!" Birdo cried, standing back up and doing a small spin and knocking Petey away. The ball rolled away from him for Omega to claimed again. Rouge smiled slightly as she performed a light spin.

"Now I can strike with…Infatuation!"

Several hearts emitted from Rouge, striking Hammer Bro., Shy Guy, and Petey himself. All three of them instantly turned away from the ball and set their eyes on Rouge, temporarily thinking about nothing but her. Meanwhile, Birdo and Omega passed the ball back and forth between them as they made their way down to Peach. The ball was super charged by then, and Omega took the chance to load up the ball into one of his cannons, then shot it at a spot that Peach wouldn't be able to block. The ball struck with a soft thud, and another point was scored for Rouge.

"Yeah, there IS one set back to my Super Ability," Rouge said while sweat dropping, running away from a lovestruck Petey. In his place, Shy Guy was given the ball, which he proceeded to kick at Petey's head to get him to snap out of it. Apparently it did the trick, because he went from loving to loathing in a few short seconds. He claimed the ball and once again knocked Rouge over, the bat just barely missing being slid into the fence.

"Petey! Pass it to me!" Shy Guy cried. Petey let out a screech to agree, then kicked the ball over to his teammate. When he was close enough to Amy, he unleashed with his Bullet Bill Blast, sending Amy to the ground and leaving the net heavily unguarded. When Shy Guy received the ball again, he lobbed it over to Petey. They passed it to each other rather quickly before Petey kicked it up into the air. Rouge rolled her eyes and groaned.

"Oh great…"

A flower sprouted beneath Petey, ascending ever upwards as it enveloped the Piranha in a bulb. When the flower stopped growing, the flower opened, revealing Petey practically bent over backwards. He lurched forward at full speed and power, causing the ball he spat out to divide into six and spiral down towards the pink hedgehog in the goal.

Amy gulped and easily blocked the first one, but that caused her to miss the second one. She was back on her feet quickly to defend against the third one, though she had to jump to the left to try to stop the fourth, which he didn't.

"Aw man," she groaned, realizing that as she stood back up, she missed the fifth ball. Acting swiftly, she lunged for the middle of the net, causing the final ball to bounce off against her armor. After taking a breather, she smiled to herself- at least she had managed to block half of them.

. . .

"Good job Amy!" Sonic cheered, even applauding.

"The score is six to two now," Wario pointed out, hoping to lower the hedgehog's confidence. Sonic just rolled his eyes.

"Rouge hasn't even performed her super strike yet," Shadow retorted, glaring at Wario. "She could turn the tables easily."

"Yeah, definitely," Daisy agreed with a sinister smile. "But I doubt she'll be able to stand up against Petey's super ability."

"_If_ he does it," Blaze defended, folding her arms.

. . .

After Petey's "limbo dance" celebration, Rouge retrieved the ball again and tried to think about what to do next. Two minutes left, and they were down by four. Plenty of time to catch up, right?

"All we have to do is get the ball charged up enough…" Rouge whispered to herself, passing to Birdo. Birdo instantly collided with Shy Guy, however, and both of them rolled along the ground and landed at Omega feet. Omega kicked them both away (and into the electric fence) and took off with the ball. Petey ran up to him to try and steal it, but they were bombarded by random lava globs. Both of them began to panic, as Omega's shiny red coat was being charred and Petey's leaves were being singed right off. Rouge and Hammer Bro. exchanged glances, then face palmed.

"Argh! WAAAH!" wailed Shy Guy, still sparking with the electricity coursing through his body. Birdo managed to pull herself away to reach the wall, then passed it to Rouge. Rouge butted Hammer Bro. out of the way, then ran down the lava-surrounded field. Birdo struggled to keep up with her, due to being weak from the shock, but at least she wasn't in Omega's position…

"My circuits are being fried. AAAAAAAHH."

"SCREECH! SCREEECH! SCREEEEECH!"

Eventually, Omega and Petey had to resort to putting out each others fires before getting back into the game. It was a little late, however, because Birdo had passed to Rouge while the ball was glowing white, and the bat flew up into the sky.

. . .

"That was fast," Waluigi muttered, somewhat impressed.

"Well, it didn't help that everyone was being attacked by the surrounding area!" huffed Daisy.

"It still isn't over yet…" Wario added, watching intently.

"I'm suddenly in the mood for pizza," Silver randomly stated, causing everyone to whirl around and give him weird looks. "What? Apparently epic matches make me hungry!"

"Too bad there's none in the vending machine…" sighed Knuckles, hanging his head.

. . .

Rouge was glowing white, grinning broadly as she stared down at Peach. Peach stared hard back, daring Rouge to even try a strike. Rouge complied to her silent challenge, spinning around like a light-speed top before striking the ball in one defining moment. She did it with such force that it separated into six separate ones, as expected. Peach missed the first one completely, but shrugged off the second and third like they were nothing. She then had to cartwheel to the right side of the net, blocking the fourth one flawlessly. Peach successfully blocked the fifth one with her shoulder, only to be unable to stop the sixth one as well.

But hey, blocking four was pretty impressive as well.

Birdo was still happy that Rouge had made two goals, only to feel heavy breaths go down her neck. Glancing up, she saw an enraged Petey, who wasn't looking all too happy. He was apparently mad that Rouge had managed to make any goals at all, and he was apparently mad enough to swallow up Birdo, then spit her back out.

"Ew, yuck! What as that for? !"

Petey just shrugged, then struck a pose like he had no idea what she was talking about. Irritated, she stormed to the center of the field as Rouge returned to give her a high five.

"It might be six to four, but we've still got this!" Rouge assured.

"Are you positive about that?" Birdo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The odds of us winning are sixty percent to forty percent," Omega calculated. "And that's an estimation with a rounded number."

Rouge just stared at Omega for awhile before returning to focusing her attention on Petey. He now had the ball, and she realized he was glancing at the clock. A perfect minute left to decide the true fate of the match. He chugged back toward Amy, trying to make up for lost time from when he was burning. However, his jog was cut short by Rogue sliding across the rocky ground to trip Petey. Due to having such a large head and a small body, Petey fell with even more of a thud than necessary. Rouge took off with the ball, not giving the Piranha Plant a second though.

"Scree…Screeeee…SCREEEEEEECH!"

. . .

"Petey's mad, Petey's mad, PETEY'S MAD!" wailed Luigi, ducking under his seat.

Tails tilted his head. "Is it really that bad?"

"No," Yoshi shrugged. "As long as you're not the victim of his rampage."

"She won't know what hit her," Daisy said, scratching her head.

"Wow," Shadow muttered, whistling.

"If you ever wondered why Petey's the Striker League Champion, well, you're about to find out…" Junior trailed. Cream shivered slightly, until Knuckles boldly asked:

"Ha, what could Petey _possibly_ do?"

. . .

Petey pushed himself up off the ground, glowering at Rouge who was passing the ball between herself and Omega. He started gargling again, but this time it became continuous. He marched over to the bat and the robot nearly soundlessly, and Hammer Bro. and Shy Guy knew what he was about to do. They steered clear and made sure they were nice and out of the way. Rouge was so busy trying to get the ball charged back up that she didn't know Petey towered over her, head thrown back, still gargling.

And that was when he brought his head back down and spewed slimy brown mud all over Rouge.

Silence. A long, still, eerie, frightening silence.

And then-

"_AAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHH!_ WAH WAH WAH WAH _WAH_! ! ! !"

Chaos and mayhem wreaked moments later, with Petey up chucking more large globs of the brown goo. Rouge was screaming at the top of her lungs, dripping with the substance, while Omega and Birdo were slipping around out of control. Hammer Bro. and Shy Guy cautiously tried to maneuver over the mud to reach the ball, but they too were blasted by their own teammate.

"Someone stop me!" Birdo cried, slipping right into the electric fence.

"Aw, gross, Petey!" Hammer Bro. complained, getting mud all over his shell. "You could've at least kept it away from me!"

"Must…get…ball to…goal…" Omega huffed, taking cautious steps while maneuvering the ball closer to Peach. Petey stormed up to his side and rammed into him, sending him flying into not only Hammer Bro., but into the electric fence as well. Hammer Bro. started shouting incoherent things while Omega complained that it felt like he was short circuiting. The rest of the shocked players tried to move once again, but Petey gained possession of the ball and started spewing mud once again.

Rouge was still screaming and still covered in mud, only to be covered with more when Petey came around again. Omega and Birdo were trying to regain their balance and follow after Petey, but Shy Guy's own stumbling caused them all to go sliding right back into the blasted fence. Hammer Bro., meanwhile, was ranting about how teammates "shouldn't be treated like this" and was sliding every which way on his shell. Petey sprinted down toward Amy, looking rather fierce with the ball, mud flying out of his mouth like a waterfall, and globs of lava landing to the sides of him. Amy screamed and held up her hands, but no matter what she did, it was all futile- she was slammed with the mud as well, rendering her unable to see that the ball was about to be shot. Petey stopped regurgitating mud to focus, calmly kicking the ball into the net with ease.

After that, only ten seconds were left in the match, and due to Rouge not even caring about the game anymore, Petey seized the ball again and made yet another goal with a second to spare. Once the single second was up, the buzzer rang out, and the crowd went crazy.

Except for the Mario and Sonic Gang. They were all dumbfounded and slack jawed.

. . .

"Something tells me that Rouge is _never_ coming out of the shower," Shadow said simply, leaning against a wall.

"Well, duh! She was screaming that she was "covered in mud, covered in something that Petey threw up, and covered in mud that Petey threw up", to quote," Peach explained, shaking her head.

"I didn't think _anyone_ could scream that long without passing out," Junior stated as he munched on some popcorn. "I'm impressed! I wish I could do that!"

"I'm pretty sure Rouge is convinced she's going to turn brown now," Daisy said with a small giggle.

"Shoot, that was enough mud to probably do so!" Silver exclaimed, sitting at the table with Knuckles and Wario splitting a pizza. Amy, who still had a bit of mud here and there but was mostly cleaned up, was sipping a soda.

"_I_ didn't even freak out that much when I got slathered with it…" she pointed out with a shrug. "I wish I could've blocked those last two goals though."

"Which is why it's unsurprising that Petey managed to get that point," Sonic sighed, changing the score on his newly rewritten white board. Petey, as if he was waiting for someone to say that, strolled through the door, looking very full of himself. If he could talk, he'd probably say something about how he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He made his way over to the vending machine, bought a victory snack, then plopped down and received a boatload of compliments. But overall, he was back to his normal self.

"Looks like we're all tied up again," Mario realized, studying the statistics rather than making Petey's ego grown even more.

"Yup, and Knuckles and Yoshi are definitely going next," Sonic added. "But…there's a tiny problem…"

"What problem is that?"

"Oh, it's not a big one. It's just that the sidekick I called to join Knuckles' team hasn't exactly shown up yet…but meh, that doesn't surprise me. Knuckles can just use someone else, no worries."

"Please don't make it me again!" Hammer Bro. winced, having his shell sprayed down by Fire Bro. and Boomerang Bro., who had decided to crash the party. "I need a break!"

"Don't worry, I've already chosen Espio, who is a decent playmaker," Knuckles explained, shrugging.

"Then you have the choice of powerful Omega, defensive Vector, or Charmy, who is way too offensive for anyone's liking…" Blaze said.

"Unless my special guest decides to show up!" Sonic threw in impatiently.

"Unfortunately, Birdo has to play twice in a row as well," Yoshi said with a slight frown.

"Man, it seems like nearly every sidekick has to play twice in a row!" exclaimed Toad. "How weird is that?"

"Don't worry, I'll definitely try a lot harder this time around," promised Birdo with a giggle.

"Ooh! And I remember!" Sonic suddenly cheered. "I finally get to get in on the action! YES!"

"Oh yeah, we're the goalies…" Mario trailed, planting his face in his palm. "This should be fun. I'm being goalie against Knuckles…"

"Do we have to do it right now?" Knuckles, gesturing to his piece of pizza. "Silver just ordered us another one, and it's REALLY tasty! And it didn't even come from the vending machine!"

"It'll give me some time to warm up before I win," Yoshi declared, stretching a bit. Knuckles instantly forgot about the pizza, jumped to his feet, and stared Yoshi down.

"The match hasn't even begun and you're already talking me down?"

"Yup!"

"That's like spitting mud on my echidna honor! You know what, forget the pizza and the vending machine- this is personal! Let's thrown down, right here and now!"

"Fine then! Let's go!"

The two of them ran out of the door, almost as instantly as the debate had started. Everyone watched them leave, blinking curiously.

"Do either of them know that their match doesn't start for another ten minutes?" asked Blaze.

"I would assume that they don't," Waluigi shrugged. "Oh well- they're figure that out pretty quickly."

"Knuckles didn't even get his sidekicks straightened out…" Cream trailed nervously.

"Eh, I guess I'll just head on out again…" Vector stated, starting to walk out.

"Where do you think you're going so fast, Vector, old pal?"

The voice was so foreign, yet so familiar. It almost could be described as the sound of a faded memory. Sonic let out a uncharacteristic squeal upon hearing the newcomer and ushered him out into the open. Everyone craned their necks to be the first to get a good look, but no one saw him until he officially stepped out into the light. He had gloves like Sonic's, shoes that were the same color as Sonic's, and he was the same size as Sonic…

But he was an armadillo.

Vector gaped, Espio gawked, and Charmy flat-out guffawed. Sonic stood next to his old friend and took a small bow.

"May I present to you…Mighty the Armadillo."

* * *

**Who puts some sort of a cheap plot twist in a sports fic? ! I mean, REALLY... :P**

**(But anyway, yeah, Knuckles and Yoshi are up next...should be fun to watch. XD)**


	7. A Match Not to be Wasted

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

A Match Not to be Wasted

_Match 5: Knuckles the Echidna vs. Yoshi_  
_Goalies: Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario_  
_Stadium: The Wastelands_  
_Current Score: Mario- 2, Sonic-2_

"Mighty the Armadillo? !" Amy gasped.

"Isn't that the guy that disappeared for years or something?" Wario asked gruffly.

"And not even Sonic knew what happened him, let alone the Chaotix…" trailed Tails, glancing at his adopted brother. Mario blinked and whirled around to face Sonic as well.

"Hey wait…if not even you knew what happened to this guy, how did you manage to find him?"

Sonic grinned sheepishly. "I didn't know what happened to him, and I didn't find him…Child did! I'm surprised she managed to pull it off!"

"I'm surprised too," Mighty chuckled. "Good to see you all again, and quite a few new faces as well! As you already know, the name's Mighty."

"He's an old member of the Chaotix," Vector explained, giving Mighty a fist bump. "That was way back when Knuckles was the leader!"

"He's also an old friend of mine," added Sonic. "We go way, way back…at least, up until the point of when he disappeared."

"Wow, where'd you go after all this time?" Peach wanted to know.

"You're not supposed to ask that!" Charmy cried. "It's obvious he was a double agent spy in Soviet Russia!"

"He was trapped in a block of ice and was thawed out recently."

"He was finding a cure for the common cold."

"He went to the half-moon!"

"He located Atlantis!"

"He was lost in the Bermuda Triangle!"

"I know! He was battling ninja wizards from the tenth dimension with nothing but a butter knife!"

"No, all of your guesses are wrong," Mighty laughed. "But where I've been isn't really important now, is it? Where's the ol' knucklehead? I'm supposed to be on his team?"

"That fool already ran out to the field with his rival," scoffed Waluigi.

"Someone was impatient," Wario jeered.

"He's going to faint when he sees you," Espio said with a smirk.

"Well what are we waiting for? I'd better head on out!"

"And we've gotta get going too!" cried Sonic, grabbing Mario's wrist. Mario instantly figured out what Sonic was about to do and winced.

"Do you remember the last several times you pulled me off at Sonic sp-EEEEEED? !"

Sonic and Mario were gone in a blue flash, followed by Mighty jogging off and waving to everyone. Excited by the special guest, the rest of the pack flooded back into the stands. They tried not to let Mighty's appearance rilethem up…but it was just so unexpected!

. . .

"Grah, can we start already?" Knuckles whined, tapping his foot.

"I'd stop complaining- you're starting to sound like Sonic…" Espio pointed out, appeared beside his captain.

"Well no one bothered to tell me that I was ten minutes early!"

"You were gone. Did you really expect us to follow after you?"

"Yeah. And where's my second teammate? !"

Espio smirked. "Oh, he'll be here…and I think you're taking this too seriously. That's why you're so snappy."

"Snappy?" Knuckles guffawed. "I'm not snappy! HMPH."

"You sound snappy to me."

"Oh…phoo. I just wanna get this over with."

"So do I," muttered Mario, trudging into his goal. Birdo and Koopa came bouncing onto the scene as well, ready to play and pumped up to max. Knuckles winced a bit, looking around for his other teammate…and his goalie.

"SONIC!"

"You called?" Sonic replied, suddenly arriving on the scene.

"Yes. Have you seen my other teammate? The match is going to start!"

Sonic grinned. "Dude, he's right behind you."

Knuckles blinked and spun around, facing Mighty standing next to a still smirking Espio. Knuckles did a double take, then walked a few steps forward to poke Mighty to make sure he wasn't some sort of mirage. When it turned out the armadillo was indeed in the flesh, Knuckles cheered and the two exchanged a high five.

"Whoa, when Sonic said he had a special guest, you definitely weren't first on my list!" Knuckles laughed. "Great to see you again!"

"Likewise," Mighty agreed. "I'm only here for the rest of the tournament, so don't get too adjusted to having me around."

Knuckles smiled. "S'all right; I think my confidence just skyrocketed! With the three of us, we can't possibly lose! You know how to play?"

"I've picked up a few moves on my travels…"

"All right!"

Moments later, an energetic Broadway song filled The Wastelands, announcing the arrival of Knuckles' opponent. Yoshi fell from the sky, landed on his feet while letting out a menacing purr, then kicked his leg up like he was getting ready to strike the ball right off the bat. However, upon seeing Knuckles' sidekick, he had to break out of focus and giddily ask, "Hey, who's the new guy?"

"Mighty, an old friend of mine. Don't let him distract you too much," Knuckles smirked. "So, you ready Yoshi?"

Yoshi danced around, performing fighting moves on the air around him. "Ha! I was born ready! Yo-SHI!"

"Then let's do this!" Knuckles exclaimed, kicking the ball as soon as it was in play. Mighty chuckled and hurried after him.

"Quick to action- this should be interesting!"

Yoshi and Koopa were on Knuckles' tail, being followed by Espio, who was being tracked by Birdo. Knuckles was already a pretty good distance away, until he realized one very important thing about the arena-

"The ground is made of ICE! ?" he yelped as his feet slipped out from under him, doing a flip and landing on his back. Yoshi laughed as he jumped over Knuckles' torso and claimed the ball for himself.

"Yup, the ground is made of ice, so you can't just bolt off when you have the ball!"

"And that's not all to the Wastelands!" Birdo added, jumping gracefully over Knuckles as well. Koopa tried to jump too, but it only resulted in tripping over Knuckles and landing on his stomach.

Mighty and Espio, meanwhile, were hot on the trail of Yoshi and Birdo. Sonic saw Yoshi approaching with more skill and grace than what Knuckles possessed, yet he appeared unfazed. Yoshi passed to Birdo, who attempted a shot, but Sonic raced right to where the ball was headed for and kicked it toward Mighty. Might gained possession of it quite stylishly then hurried off.

"Aw yeah! That's what Sonic brings to the party! Woo!"

As Sonic broke out into a song and dance, Mario face palmed in the other goal.

. . .

"Rousing beginning, huh?" Luigi asked.

"Quite," agreed Blaze.

"Am I the only one who realizes it's snowing in Wastelands?" Shadow questioned in an irritated fashion, watching as a snowflake landed softly on his nose.

"Well, they're not completely Wastelands, you know," Peach explained. "It's called that because of all the weather phenomenons that occur here! They sort of eroded the place so much, it became wasted…"

"I find it kinda funny that Knuckles had no idea what he's getting into with this stadium," chuckled Daisy.

"What do you mean by that?" Amy asked.

"Just wait- it's bound to be hilarious," snickered Waluigi.

"I'll fetch the popcorn," Silver said, heading to the lobby. "And I won't have to worry about Knuckles stealing my food this time!"

. . .

Mario turned his attention away from the still dancing Sonic and focused on Mighty approaching. Considering that the ground was frozen over, Mario was impressed that Mighty could maneuver so well, especially for being a power character. Mighty gave Mario a quick smirk before passing the ball to Espio, who passed it back. The armadillo then sent the ball flying toward the goal, but Mario let out a scream as he dove for it and caught it flawlessly.

"…I don't think I like being goalie…"

"You're doing fine, Mario!" Yoshi assured, receiving the ball from his teammate. Just as he turned to take off with it, Knuckles came out of nowhere, nearly plowed him over, stole the ball, and shot it back at Mario. The plumber, who was not expecting that in the slightest, was instantly plowed by the ball and promptly fell over.

But, luckily for him and Yoshi, the ball rolled away from the net.

As Knuckles growled to himself angrily, Koopa arrived and retrieved the ball, running the opposite way with Yoshi and Birdo guarding his sides.

"C'mon Knuckles, pull yourself together," Espio demanded, running alongside his captain.

"I see you're the same as ever, eh Knucklehead?" Mighty chuckled lightly.

"Just focus on the game and stop worrying about me," Knuckles huffed, trying to catch up to Yoshi.

By the time the three of them reached the opposing team, Yoshi, Koopa, and Birdo were both taking turns shooting the ball. But with every shot, Sonic would be right there, eagerly kicking the ball as far away from his goal as possible. Yoshi and his team were quick to retrieve the ball without any problems, but Sonic's constant kicking was a bit aggravating.

"Aw, come on!" Koopa complained as his shot was blocked again. "you've gotta be kidding!"

"What you see is what you get!" Sonic practically sang, kicking away another shot from Birdo. "I'm just a guy that gets a _kick_ out of this game!"

"Please, not on the field…" Mario groaned, shaking his head.

"Hey Sonic, try getting the ball away from the other team and to one of us!" Knuckles barked.

"Don't worry, Knux- I could do this all day!"

"We don't HAVE all day!" Yoshi retorted, claiming the ball again.

"You're just mad that you can't get a shot in. Hey, maybe I'm as good of a goalie as Knuckles is!"

"Ha! You wish," Knuckles sneered. "Must I remind you about who is better at baseball-"

"Can you just get on with the game already! ?" Junior's childish voice shouted, followed by an outraged screech from Petey.

"Stop arguing with your own teammate!" Amy exasperated as well, folding her arms and staring Knuckles down. Yoshi couldn't take anymore and brought his leg high up behind him, then struck the ball so hard, it went flying upwards where Sonic couldn't reach it. It slammed into the net, and, oddly enough, _Espio_ fell to ground, talking about how relieved he was that someone managed to make a goal.

"Wait…what happened?" Sonic asked, glancing around.

"Obviously you don't have feet in the air, Sonic!"

"What do you know?" Yoshi said with a small smile. "As long as we aim high, Sonic doesn't stand a chance!"

"Great, they found out our goalie's weakness with the first goal," Mighty groaned as Knuckles held his face in his palms.

. . .

"I dunno what was worse, that, or Shadow's lack of attention when he was goalie," scoffed Silver.

"I almost feel bad for Knuckles…" sighed Wario, stealing some of Silver's popcorn without his knowing.

"Sonic'll show him! That'll be the only ball that gets by him!" Amy cried.

"It's not even his match!" Daisy protested.

. . .

Once they were all back in position, Knuckles retrieved the ball and kicked it to Mighty. Mighty carefully maneuvered his way down the field, fighting to keep the ball in his possession from Koopa. However, the "moves" he picked up among his travels were coming quite in handy at the moment. Koopa, no matter how hard he tried, could get the ball away from Mighty. In fact, he performed a daring move and tried to trip Mighty, but Mighty kicked the ball over Koopa, jumped over Koopa, and kept going. Koopa, meanwhile, fell on his back and started spinning out.

"AUGH!"

"Hey! Watch where you're- OOMPH!"

Koopa tripped Espio, and the chameleon found himself hitching a ride on the stomach of a turtle. They continued to spiral out of control until they slammed into the electric fence. Two screams emitted shortly afterward, but the other four players were too focused to pay attention.

"Here it comes!" Mighty cried, spinning around and kicking the ball toward Mario. It went rather high up, like Yoshi's previous shot, but unlike Sonic, Mario had an advantage when it came to jumping. With two hops, Mario had intercepted the ball in midair and managed to get it to Birdo. Knuckles cut her off as he did to Yoshi earlier, and performed the same shot once again.

And once again, it knocked Mario over.

"Mama mia! Will you learn how to aim? !"

"Sorry," Knuckles muttered sheepishly as Mighty retrieved the rebounded ball and shot again. This time, he aimed lower to the ground, allowing it to sneak past Mario and score a goal for Knuckles' team.

. . .

"Well, that wasn't too shabby!" Peach exclaimed.

"Are you kidding?" Daisy scoffed. "Knuckles has knocked Mario over twice now, and his only goal was made by his sidekick!"

"Better than nothing, right?" Cream asked.

"Yeah, and if Knuckles or Yoshi loses, at least THEY don't have to worry about losing to a girl!" whined Junior. "Or suffer through the embarrassment of actually suffering THROUGH it!"

"At least you didn't lose to a plant," grunted Rouge, arrive on the scene. She was armed with disinfectant spray, sponges, some sort of antibacterial goop in a bottle, and five towels draped from her arms and shoulders. Everyone gawked at her sudden arrival and latest fashion until she finally snapped back with "What?"

"Why do you look like a walking cleaning closet?" Waluigi questioned under stifled laughter.

"Even after six showers, I don't think I'll ever feel clean again…" the bat replied, glaring at the now-sleeping Petey as she made her way next to Shadow.

"Well, you're missing your other boyfriend getting his butt kicked by a green dinosaur," Wario sneered.

. . .

Knuckles had his lips pressed in a thin line as Yoshi was given the ball. As soon as the dinosaur tapped the ball lightly with his foot, Knuckles charged like a bull in a ditch-effort to get the ball back. Before Yoshi could even think, he found himself flying upwards after Knuckles shoved his arm into the dinosaur's stomach. As Knuckles took off with the ball, Yoshi slow-motion fell back to the ground, sliding across the icy ground. When he finally stopped, mere inches away from the electric fence, he sat up and simply blinked.

"Whoa."

Meanwhile, Knuckles was doing his best to simply stay standing rather than keep the ball in check.

"C'mon, just gotta get to the goal…"

And that was when it went dark and the lightning struck.

. . .

"What…was…that?" Tails asked nervously.

"Oh, lightning strikes occasionally on the field, nothing big," Peach said with a shrug. "However, it usually strikes the player with the ball. Why do you ask?"

Luigi suddenly found himself being clung to by a two-tailed flying fox.

"I'M SCARED OF LIGHTNING!"

. . .

"What the heck?" Knuckles muttered to himself, still running around in the dark. Another bolt of lightning struck close to the other side of him, and moments later, he felt the zing of a thousand volts course through his body as he was struck as well.

"NAAAARGH!"

As Knuckles started dancing around while sparking like crazy, Yoshi skipped up from nowhere and seized the ball. Birdo and Espio ran after him, while Mighty gawked at Knuckles, and Koopa dared to poke him, causing him to receive a shock as well.

And as if the lightning wasn't enough, a violent wind started to blow, just like at Thunder Island, and it gave Yoshi another advantage. Sonic was rather silent when Yoshi returned, and Yoshi figured that he learned his lesson from last time. He shot the ball, and Sonic deflected it instantly.

"Oh yeah, baby! What now?"

Or not.

The winds got harsher, nearly blowing Espio and Birdo across the ice. Mighty and Koopa were getting blown around as well, while Knuckles was rolling around, trying to get rid of his brief paralysis. Sonic even felt the force of the winds as he fought to stand his ground. Yoshi used the wind to his advantage, lobbing the ball up so it would jet forward and upward with the strong gusts. Just like before, it smacked into the upper right corner of the net, right out of Sonic's reach.

"C'mon Sonic, you could've leapt for it-" Mighty began, but was quickly silenced by the glower from Sonic.

"Yay!" Yoshi cheered, wiggling his tail then giggling as he tried to chase it. Knuckles just folded his arms and looked perplexed as he regained his mobility and trotted to the middle of the field. Yoshi rushed back to the middle, and the sidekicks returned momentarily.

"Eh, chin up, Knuckles! We'll come back," Mighty assured, punching his fist into his palm.

"With a miracle, maybe…" Espio grunted under his breath, only to receive a harsh punch from Mighty.

Knuckles just stopped the ball with his foot as it was rolled to him. "We'll need a miracle all right…"

He passed to Mighty, then took off as fast as he could down the ice ridden field. Espio muttered something about never getting passed to, until Mighty sent the ball his way from in between Koopa's legs. Espio then maneuvered it away from Birdo until he was forced to pass back to Mighty. Mighty shoved Koopa out of the way to retrieve the ball, then lobbed it to Knuckles. Knuckles passed it to Mighty, Mighty back to Espio, Espio back to Mighty, and Mighty back to Knuckles, who kicked it upwards and followed it, beginning to glow with a red aura.

. . .

"Aw yeah baby, here we go!" Rouge cheered, now with a sponge on her head. "This is where Knuckles makes a comeback and we finally get a point we so richly deserve!"

"The match isn't even half over yet, Rouge," Blaze pointed out, shaking her head.

"I hope Mario can hold up against whatever onslaught Knuckles will dish out…" Luigi trailed.

"I'm pretty sure he will," Peach assured. "After all, he's Mario!

**Mario in the Goal-**

"WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH!"

The red heroic plumber, garbed in fierce and manly sports armor, was staring up in fear at Knuckles gathering power in the snowy sky. His hands seemed to be glowing the most, and with one strike of his massive fist, the ball split into six, each of them coming down like meteors. The first one went right over Mario's head, nearly blowing his hat off. The second and third went to opposite sides, and due to confusion of which one the block, they both sank into the net. Mario dove for the fourth one, a shot aimed for the lower left, but failed to stop it, along with the fifth one, aimed for the upper right. Frustrated, Mario stood back up, prepared to guard that last shot like his life depended on it… it came straight down at him, and just like before, it slammed into his side, knocking him into the net…

…but the ball rolled away from the net.

. ..

"Atta boy, Mario! Way to sacrifice your body like that to stop a heavy metallic soccer ball!" cheered Wario, throwing up his hands and spilling Silver's popcorn. As Silver psychically removed the kernels from his fur and popped them into his mouth, Peach just shook her head- whether it was at Mario or at Silver, no one would ever know.

"That makes the score six to two…" Shadow calculated, rather boredly. "Hmph, I could do way better."

"I told you this is where Knuckles would make a comeback!" Rouge giggled, squeezing her sponge with anticipation.

"Yeah, now we just wait for the part where Yoshi makes a comeback," huffed Daisy. Rouge just folded her arms and gave Daisy a look.

"Like a cute little green dinosaur is going to beat out a muscular and easily enraged echidna."

"I don't care who wins- as long as we can get out of here soon!" Tails exclaimed, eyeing more lightning striking in the background. "Can someone tell me why there's lightning when it's SNOWING AT THE SAME TIME? !"

"It's not impossible," Junior said with a shrug, sipping a soda.

. . .

"Mmmm…aw…" Yoshi sighed, kneeling on the ground in disappointment. Birdo placed an assuring hand on his shoulder, which gave him enough motivation to stand back up. There was still half a game to go, wasn't there? When he received the ball, he struck a confident pose and passed to Koopa. Koopa was amazed that he had been given the ball, and when he was far enough along, he prepared to pass back to Yoshi. However, Mighty came up and intercepted the pass.

"Yeah, that's how I roll!" he cheered, nimbly making his way down the field.

"Oh not again!" wailed Yoshi, hurrying to get ball back.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" yelped Koopa, frantically racing after the armadillo, only to slip on the ice. When Yoshi saw that Koopa was on the ground, he sparked an idea.

"Shells away!" he cried, kicking Koopa towards Mighty.

"HEY! This is totally uncalled for!" shouted Koopa, screaming the entire way. Just as planned, he slammed into Mighty, causing his legs to fly out from underneath him and to fall on his back like Knuckles did. Koopa popped out of his shell and quickly regained possession of the ball. But just as he started to make his way back down to Mario's end, the world went dark again…

. ..

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh-"

"Tails, calm down, the lighting isn't going to come up here-"

A bolt suddenly crashed down from the sky, hitting Shadow, who was sitting next to Tails. Shadow coughed out a puff of smoke, then excused himself to fix his fur and go into a fit of rage. Tails gave Luigi a sarcastic look as he prepared to crawl under his seat.

"Yeah, that strike of lightning was no where near close to hitting me. At all!"

"There is no need for obvious sarcasm!"

. . .

Espio was zapped, considering he was on the wrong side of Koopa at the time as he was trying to help Mighty get the ball back. Koopa heard his shocked cry and panicked, hoping to get rid of the ball quickly. He then heard the "Bewop" sound of Birdo as she was struck, and the turtle began to panic even more. At the last second, he violently kicked it away, hoping that Espio or Knuckles would get the zap, but unfortunately the lightning had already targeted Koopa and left the turtle with a shocking aftermath.

"Great!" Yoshi grumbled as Mighty made off with the ball once again. He and Knuckles were passing back and forth to each other, confident that Yoshi couldn't take it from them. Mario tried to keep his eye on the ball, but it was moving so fast that it was making him dizzy.

"Mama mia, just shoot!"

"'kay," Mighty said, targeting a lower spot in the net and giving the ball a kick. Mario made a quick save and was back on his feet again…until he saw Knuckles getting ready to shoot. As the ball came his way, Mario ducked, then pointed a finger and burst out laughing at Knuckles.

"Ha, you missed me!"

"Um, I was never aiming at you…"

"Goal!" cheered Mighty, slapping Knuckles on the back. Mario blinked and glanced down- the ball was right next to him. When he glanced back up, he saw Yoshi shaking his fist and muttering incoherent bad language, and Mario assumed it was more directed at him rather than at Knuckles or Yoshi. He gave Yoshi a meek thumbs up, but the dinosaur just turned and marched back to the middle.

"C'mon!" Yoshi called to Knuckles and Mighty, who were in the middle of a victory dance.

"I'm with Yoshi on this one," murmured Espio, tapping his foot.

"And so am I!" called Sonic. "Now I now how Wario felt standing in the goal- VERY. BORED. Let's get some action down here, shall we?"

The ball dropped and rolled to Yoshi, Yoshi exchanging looks with Birdo and Koopa. He made a quick hand signal, and they knew what that meant.

"Secret weapon…" giggled Koopa he was given the ball briefly. Knuckles noticed the mischievous glint in Yoshi's eyes as he ran toward Mario.

"What are the planning…"

"You're about to find out," Birdo chuckled, backing away slowly. Knuckles took another glance at Yoshi and gaped at the dinosaur jumping up and doing several flips in the air.

"Egg roll!"

A giant egg formed around Yoshi, and the dinosaur rolled off in a destructive egg-rampage.

"Get the ball to the goal!" Yoshi's voice rang out to Birdo and Koopa. "I'll take care of Mighty, Espio, and Knuckles!"

"Right!" Birdo and Koopa agreed, and they ran off toward Sonic. Mighty, Espio, and Knuckles, meanwhile, found themselves about to be steamrolled by an egg.

. ..

"They're gonna get scrambled."

"And poached."

"Sunny side up, anyone?"

"It'll be egg-ceptional."

"And egg-credible."

"Too bad Eggman's not here…"

"Will all of you make like an egg and beat it already?" huffed Shadow, still a little touchy. Being struck by lighting_ does_ do that to people…

. . .

"Never in my life would I have ever thought I'd be crushed by a giant egg," muttered Espio, running like crazy.

"I have…once…" Mighty gulped. "It's a dreadful tale, and I don't like to talk about it…"

"Less talking, more running!" yelped Knuckles, running a bit faster than Espio and Mighty.

"Yoshi!"

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

The trio rounded a corner, with the giant egg just missing hitting Mario, who dove in his own goal for safety. Knuckles, however, thought quickly and rolled out of the way just as the egg turned, leaving Yoshi to continue to hunt down Mighty and Yoshi.

"Hmph, two can play at the abilities game…" Knuckles smirked, readying his fists. He took a few steps back, then ran forward, sprung into the air, and thrust his fists into the ground. "EARTHQUAKE!"

"Huh-? !" Yoshi cried out in his egg. It began to rumble and shake, and Mighty and Espio dared to turn around to see what was happening. The egg rolled to a stop, began to crack, and Yoshi was "hatched" from the egg. He blinked and turned to Knuckles, but hardly had a chance to look because he was rocketed into the air by the rocky shockwave Knuckles caused.

Meanwhile, Birdo and Koopa were passing among themselves, nearing Sonic with every step. The ball was glowing white, meaning they were practically guaranteed to get a goal.

As long as they managed to get it up high enough.

Sonic darted quickly along the ground, ready for anything. He was slightly bouncing on his heels, in case he needed to spring, which he probably would. He kept his eyes on Birdo, knowing she would be the one to shoot. When Koopa passed to Birdo, she lobbed it upwards like Yoshi, but Sonic was ready. He sprung to the left, reached out with his hand, and deflected the ball with nothing more than a flick of his wrist.

"YES!"

Just then, the shockwave reached the ends of the field, causing Birdo, Koopa, and the ball to go flying upwards. Eventually the shockwave reached the goals too, sending Mario, Sonic, and the goal posts in the air as well. However, the quake also had one tiny set back for Knuckles...

...it made the ball roll into his goal.

"..NO! KNUCKLES!"

Knuckles pulled his fists out of the ground and gave Sonic a stupid grin.

. . .

"Brilliant, Knuckles. Just brilliant," scoffed Shadow, applauding while rolling his eyes.

"Heh, did you expect anything more?" Waluigi jeered.

"Shut up!" Rouge snapped. "He probably gave Yoshi that extra goal since he's bound to win anyway!"

"Who are you trying to kid?" retorted Wario. "Knuckles can enjoy himself while he's ahead!"

"There's only a minute left until the match ends, however…" Toad trailed worriedly.

"Seven to three," recited Silver, glancing around cautiously.

. . .

"Go, Yoshi! Yahoo! Yahoo!"

"Oh, be quiet, Yoshi," Knuckles grunted, accepting the ball and placing a foot on it. "You wouldn't have gotten that goal without me!"

"I suppose not…" Yoshi agreed, rocking back and forth. "But there's still a minute left, and anything can happen!"

"He has a point," Mighty pointed out.

"All we really need to do is just keep the ball in our possession so they have no open opportunity to score," Espio said coolly. He glanced at Knuckles with a raised eyebrow. "You think you can manage that?"

"Yes," Knuckles mumbled, passing the ball to Espio and taking off. Yoshi, however, didn't panic, nor did he chase after Knuckles. Birdo and Koopa exchanged glances then gawked at Yoshi.

"Um…aren't you going to go after them?"

"Nope. It's safer over here."

As Yoshi was staying right where he was standing, Knuckles was a free man, running down toward Mario's end of the goal like nobody's business. Hey, if Yoshi was throwing in the towel, fine by him! He'd just rack up more points, look even more impressive, and be able to rub it in people's faces.

"Plus I get free victory snacks from the vending machine," Knuckles added eagerly.

However, one thing got in the way of his sights…and that was the lack of sight itself. Mighty and Espio both groaned at the blackness and complained to themselves.

"Aw man, it's dark aga-"

He was cut off by a sharp crackle and a bright flash.

Knuckles shuddered. "M-Mighty…?"

"…I'm thinking I should get out of here-"

Espio was silenced just as Mighty was. Knuckles gulped and choose the wrong time to glance up- a strong bolt of lightning came falling out of the heavens and struck Knuckles like he was gold- and boy, it was a_ lot_ stronger than last time.

"Daaaaaarrr…"

Knuckles was left standing in awkward poses, electricity zapping through his body. When the vast blackness dispersed, Yoshi calmly walked up, snickered at Knuckles, and brought the ball with him. He passed to Birdo, who trotted away before passing to Koopa, who used his Shell Smash to cover the ball with a Dry Bones shell and hurled it toward Sonic.

"What the-"

Sonic was bowled over by the shell, but the ball rebounded in the opposite direction. Birdo was the closest to the ball, so she readied her leg and gave the ball a hard slam into the net. Sonic groaned and face palmed while Birdo and Koopa exchanged a high-five. Yoshi was so happy that he jumped on the ball and started rolling around on it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…"

"It's still…seven to four…" Knuckles managed to gasp out. "And there's only…forty-five seconds…"

"We've got this," Mighty assured, helping Knuckles up off the ground. "Just hang in there Knuckles."

Knuckles nodded, returning to the middle of the field once more. All he had to do was keep the ball away from Yoshi long enough, and he'd have his win. Even if Yoshi managed to score a few more goals, Knuckles doubted he could make enough to beat him in less than forty-five seconds.

And he was literally shoved right out of his thoughts by an oncoming dinosaur.

"Yoshi!"

"Hee hee hee…"

Yoshi knocked Knuckles over and stole the ball for himself. What he wasn't expecting was Knuckles to spring back up and tackle him to the ground.

"Ow! Get off me!"

"Never!"

They started rolling along the ice, fighting and smacking each other for the ball. Mighty, Espio, Birdo, and Koopa all stared at each other before jumping into the fray as well. The six of them wrestled for the ball as time was slowly ticking down.

"Get the ball, Yoshi!" screamed Daisy.

"Don't let him have it, Knuckles!" Rouge cried.

Neither Yoshi nor Knuckles were about to let the other get the ball, and the brawl continued, but it took only one small thing to separate them…

. . .

"LIGHTNING!"

"Get a grip, Tails!"

. . .

The fierce lightning strike the ground around the players, causing Espio and Koopa to repel away instantly. Mighty and Birdo continued to do their best to help out their teammates, but they too decided that getting struck by lightning wasn't worth it.

So when the lightning hit the ball itself, Knuckles and Yoshi were zapped and were sent flying across the ice.

"Argh! NO!" Knuckles wailed, soaring a few inches off the ground next to Yoshi. The two of them crashed backed down, both of then landing on one foot, hands gripping the other's, and soon enough they were spinning gracefully around on the ice.

"…we never speak of this again."

"Agreed."

They then let go of each other; Knuckles flying into the electric fence while Yoshi was thrown closer to the ball. When Yoshi pulled himself together, he realized he was close enough to Sonic's goal and had twenty seconds left.

He smirked. "That's perfect! Hey, Koopa!"

"Coming, coming!" Koopa shouted, scurrying over to Yoshi.

"Mighty, Espio, hurry!" Knuckles shouted, falling to the ground after receiving another strong shock.

"Don't let them score on me!" Sonic wailed.

Mario rolled his eyes. "Oh, please…"

Koopa and Yoshi constantly passed among themselves until the ball turned white. Sonic's eyes slightly widened as Mighty was there, trying to snag the ball away from Yoshi.

"Hoo…you're a pretty decent player…" the armadillo admitted, having some serious trouble getting the ball back. Yoshi just shrugged.

"You're not bad yourself!" he kicked the ball upwards and took off after it. "But, still not as good as me."

"Thirteen seconds!" Espio shouted, hoping to use the lack of time to rattle Yoshi a bit. Koopa and Birdo, however, were celebrating as the winds picked up again, starting to blow the sidekicks away from Sonic's goal.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Knuckles howled. He turned to give Sonic a threatening glare. "I swear, if you-"

Sonic assured Knuckles with a thumbs up. "Just leave it to me, Knuckles!"

The look on Knuckles' face still said that he honestly didn't believe that. Sonic turned his focus away from Knuckles and to Yoshi, who was taking off into the sky while glowing green. His cheeks began to turn a furious red as he sucked in a ton of air, while at the same time the dinosaur literally sprouted wings. Knuckles just gaped, then dove out of the way as Yoshi air-blasted the six balls toward Sonic.

_"Sweet Chaos, Sweet Chaos, Sweet Chaos-"_

Already two out of the six had hit the upper part of the net, plus a third had managed to get in through Sonic's legs. The hedgehog yelped as he dove to the left in a bold attempt to block the fourth. It barely brushed against his fingertips, but the ball was denied, so Sonic didn't complain. He quickly did a backflip to jump back to his feet, also unintentionally bicycle kicking the fifth ball away from the net.

"Sonic, you'd better block the last one!" Knuckles barked while Espio was on the ground next to him "wishing on the great stars above".

"Five seconds!" Koopa squeaked, pulling into his shell. "I can't watch!"

"C'mon, c'mon…" Mario murmured under his breath.

The audience leaned closer, struggling to see whether or not Sonic would be able to block the final shot of the game. But just as the moment of truth was upon them, the darkness returned and prevented anyone from seeing the outcome. The only light in the sky was the triplet bolts of lightning that signaled that the end of the match was near.

Yoshi began to descend, his face donning a worried expression as he returned to the ground. The buzzer went off, but the players were all frozen to their spots, staring at the goal.

"…did I win?"

Yoshi trotted closer to the goal and rushed past Espio and Birdo. Glancing down, he saw Sonic sprawled out on the ground, looking dazed. The hedgehog lie as if he had dove for the ball.

Question was, where the heck did it go?

"…hello?"

To respond to Yoshi, Mighty turned his back to the goal and jerked his thumb toward the net. Taking a second look, Yoshi located the ball.

It was resting on the net, right behind Sonic's head.

"…hey, I DID win! Yay!"

And with that, the stadium erupted in happiness.

"Ya-HOO!" Mario cheered, even throwing his hat to ground as he ran around in circles with his arms in the air. "That-a was a close one!"

"…oh come ON!" Knuckles groaned, smacking his forehead several times. "Why can't I EVER win? It was right there! It was so close I could almost taste it! And what happens? I lose it all in one swift move!"

He then slowly turned his hardened gaze to Sonic, who made eye contact and was back on his feet instantly.

"SONIC!"

"Heh heh…we should do this again sometime, eh-"

"GET OVER HERE SO I CAN TEAR YOU TO PIECES!"

"Like you can catch me," Sonic called over his shoulder, already beginning to sprint out of the stadium. Knuckles followed after him in a moment of blind rage, while Espio and Birdo just looked on and shook their heads.

"Huh…" Yoshi began, trotting after Knuckles. "He took the loss a lot better than I thought."

"We're talking about Knuckles here," Mighty chuckled. "We're lucky he has no plans to tear this place right down!"

"Yet," added Espio, stalking off. After hearing that, Mighty and Yoshi traded glances.

"We'd better get in there."

"Pronto."

. . .

"…and here's to celebrate an excellent win from Yoshi!" Mario exclaimed as Luigi brought a fruit pizza to Yoshi.

"And the drinks are courtesy of the vending machine," Peach chuckled, serving Yoshi up a choice of soda, water, or juice. Yoshi sighed in satisfaction as he popped open the lid of the juice and lightly began to slurp it.

"Ah, the taste of victory…" he smirked, catching Knuckles staring in envy at him. "And it came from the vending machine! _Naturally_…"

Knuckles snarled, then returned to shaking his fist at Sonic, who was perched on the vending machine.

"Get. Down. Here."

"Whoa, Knuckles just chill-"

"Don't make me make you get down here!"

"C'mon, Knuckster, you wouldn't harm the vending machine again, would you?"

"No, but I'd be very happy to harm YOU."

"It's not like you lost that bad-"

"I lost nevertheless! So get off the vending machine so I can punch your face in because this is all your fault!"

"Meh, this whole thing is Sonic's fault, blah, blah…when don't you blame me?" Sonic mocked. The vending machine suddenly tilted dangerously, and Sonic found himself gripping the edge for dear life. When the vending machine tilted back into place, Sonic cringed and stayed put. "Yeaaaah…that doesn't tempt me to get offa this thing any."

"Well, whether we lost or not, I thought it was fun," Mighty admitted with a shrug. "I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the matches!"

"Who's match is next, Mario?" Daisy asked, hoping it would be her. Mario smiled and whipped out the randomizer. He pressed a blue button, causing a reclining chair to pop out the side. He sat in it, leaned back, turned on the vibrating feature, and randomized the names of the people who still had to play.

"H-Hey, we're haaaaalfwaaaaay done alreaaaaaady…" Mario managed to explain through the vibrations. "Now, let's seeeeee…"

"Please be me, please be me, please be me…" Daisy begged to no one in particular. "Me! Me! Me! Me! Me!"

Amy walked over and looked over Mario's shoulder. Once she caught sight of the names, she burst out laughing.

"What? What?" Daisy asked frantically.

"It's Shadow and Wario," Amy giggled.

"I really wish you hadn't said that…" Luigi groaned as Shadow jumped dramatically on the table and struck a pose.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I, Shadow, the Ultimate Lifeform, shall accept this pathetic challenge just so I can have the gloating glory of beating Wario! He won't know what him hit, and hopefully he'll be destroyed in the process-"

"Shadow," Toad lurched, grabbing his head. "Please!"

"Besides, you think you're going to win when leaf-head is your goalie?" jeered Waluigi. Silver stomped his foot and clenched his fists.

"Hmph! I wouldn't be talking you…lanky stick!"

"Lanky stick? That's a new one-"

"I'm so buying two tubs of popcorn for this match," Peach smirked, high fiving Daisy.

"What's more likely to happen- Wario winning, or Shadow assaulting him first?" wondered Junior.

"Eh, probably the assault," Yoshi guessed, taking a bit of his pizza.

"And I should have nothing to worry about," Shadow continued from the table, glowering down at Silver. "Because I will get my hands on Silver if he performs like Sonic did-"

"I'm right here you know!" Sonic barked, still at the top of the vending machine. He glanced down and slightly winced at how Knuckles was pacing in front of the vending machine dangerously. "C'mon Knuckles, ya can't keep me up here forever!"

"If I can guard a "big shiny rock" for nearly all my life, then yes, I believe I can keep you up there forever."

"Man, you guuuuyssss neeeed to try this chaaaaair…" Mario sighed happily. "Tooo baaaad it's only for me and Soooonic…"

"Stop rubbing it in!" winced Luigi.

"I could dump you out of that thing very easily, you know!" Wario added, cracking his knuckles. Waluigi slunk over to him and placed his hands on Wario's shoulder.

"No you will not!"

"…why not?"

"Because you need to conserve all your strength for the match!"

"…why?"

"Because you're going to win it!"

"…I am?"

Waluigi smacked himself hard in the face. "Look, keep up your stamina, stay sharp, and be ready for anything. This is the chance I have to redeem myself-I mean, the chance you have to show that gun-happy hedgehog that you're better than him!"

"Someone call an ambulance now…" grumbled Silver, heading off to get his goalie gear on.

"Am I the only one that's afraid of the next match?" Luigi questioned.

"As long as there's no thunder or lightning, I'll be fine," Tails replied.

"Do you also think Sonic's going to get down from there anytime soon?"

"No way, Luigi," Knuckles interrupted, still standing coolly in front of the machine. Sonic was starting to drum his fingers against the top due to impatience.

"Today, Knuckles!"

"No."

"I'll have to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh well."

"Ugh," Cream commented, making a face.

"Aw please, Knuckles! I'm sorry I cost you the match! Just let me down!"

"hmm…no…"

"At least let me update the whiteboard!"

Knuckles' eyes lit up as he suddenly darted over to said whiteboard.

"Oh…would you be talking about_ this?_"

He placed a massive palm on the board and turned to Sonic, smirking devilishly. Sonic's pupils shrunk as he began to glare daggers.

"Don't you even DARE think about it-"

Knuckles erased the whiteboard.

"…RARGH!"

Peach, Daisy, Blaze, Luigi, Waluigi, and Petey all had to duck as Sonic propelled himself off the machine and directly tackled Knuckles to the ground.

"And I thought Shadow was violent," Blaze stated with wide eyes. After a few minutes of a cloud-covered brawl, the smoke cleared away, revealing Sonic sitting on Knuckles with the echidna simply laughing.

"That was not funny-"

"Yes it was. I guess we're even now."

"I have to rewrite that for, like, the hundredth time!"

"I think it's only four," Peach pointed out.

"I think it's three," Cream retorted.

"I'm pretty sure it's four as well," added Rouge.

"No, it's definitely two," countered Yoshi.

"Counting this time, I think it's three," Tails interrupted.

"Who cares how many times!" shouted Sonic. "I shouldn't have had to rewrite it at all!"

"Caaaalm dooown, Sooonic…" Mario trailed as he relaxed with his eyes closed. Sonic glanced over his shoulder and gave Mario a look.

"You're right next to the whiteboard! Why didn't you stop Knuckles? !"

"Blaaaame the power of the chaaaaair…"

* * *

**Accidentally had Knuckles call Luigi "Thunder" in this chapter... *coughwrongstorycough***

**Anyway, the winner of this match was a serious coin toss. I would have liked Knuckles to win, but Yoshi winning worked out better overall...And next time, it's Shadow vs Wario... *pulls out an army helmet and jumps in a bomb shelter***


	8. The Ultimate Match

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament

The "Ultimate" Match

_Match 6: Shadow the Hedgehog vs. Wario_  
_Goalies: Silver the Hedgehog and Waluigi_  
_Stadium: The Dump_  
_Current Score: Mario- 3, Sonic-2_

Once Sonic had finished rewriting the stats once again, everyone headed out to The Dump. Some were overly excited, some were cautious, and others feared for their lives, and all for the same reason…

Shadow and Wario were going head to head.

Would it end in an explosion? Crushing disappointment? Death? Only time, and skill, would tell…

. . .

Shadow strolled out confidentially onto the field, casually tossing his quills over his shoulder. His secluded section of fan girls squealed in delight and nearly fainted as he coolly walked to center of the field like some sort of god. Just like when he was a goalie, his armor seemed to shine in the meek light, like he was some sort of hero, like a knight in shining armor…and the fan girls lost all consciousness. When Shadow finally stopped his dramatic entrance, he glanced around, took a whiff, and made a face.

"This place is a dump!"

"That's why it's called a dump, you idiot!" Boo cackled, arriving on the scene in his Wario-themed helmet.

"Hmph, this field is inferior to me, but it suits Wario nicely…I suppose it'll do."

Boo rolled his eyes as he was joined by Monty Mole, while Omega and Espio came walking up behind Shadow.

"Hopefully I'll be able to do more this time around…" Espio muttered to himself.

"Heck yes you will," Shadow replied, looking over his shoulder just in time to see Silver psychically place himself in the goal.

"I'm ready, Shadow!"

"You'd better be…"

On the other side of the field, Waluigi was arriving, taking his spot at his own goal. He watched as Boo flew around and cackled like a lunatic while Monty Mole looked particularly interested by a nearby pipe.

"Listen up you two," Waluigi snapped, instantly getting their attention. "We can't afford to have Wario lose this match!"

"Is it just for Wario? Or for you?" Boo scoffed, arms folded.

"It doesn't matter who it's for, us winning is what's important!"

"Yeah, because we've got a great chance against a robot, a ninja, and the Ultimate Lifeform."

"Never underestimate my true power…" Shadow returned with a look, walking up and folding his arms seriously. The girls, who had just been revived, fainted once again as one of the most horrific sounds known to man coursed through the stadium.

Polka music…sang by Wario.

"Ya da, da da da da da ya da, ya da, da da da da da da- OOMPH!"

Wario landed face first in the mucky ground, cutting off his off-key humming. Shadow took one look at the poor fool on the ground and doubled over laughing.

"Aw man! Too bad I didn't have a camera on me…" he snickered, trying to cease chuckling. Wario just pushed himself off the ground, then sliced his finger across his throat. Shadow eventually stopped chortling, his face returning back to its original emotionless expression.

"Okay, fine…gonna try to be a tough guy?"

"Ha, Wario doesn't need to "try"…"

Shadow rolled his eyes and impatiently waited for the ball. Wario just seemed intent on staring at Shadow until he spontaneously combusted. Everyone in the crowd leaned forward, wondering who would be the one to get the ball.

The ball was dropped, and Wario and Shadow threw themselves against each other.

. . .

"Ooh! This'll be good!" cheered Knuckles, downing Peach's popcorn. The princess pulled the bag away and promptly shoved Knuckles away.

"Get your own!" she snapped before turning and sharing with Daisy, who was upset that it still wasn't time for her match. Knuckles just huffed and made a face.

"The nerve of some people…"

"Man! Look at Shadow and Wario tearing it up out there!" whistled Luigi. "And neither of them have gotten the ball yet…"

"I'm just worried that no one's going to survive this match…" Tails said while sweat dropping.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Tails," Cream assured.

"It's Shadow and Wario- someone's bound to lose an eye," grumbled Junior. "…at the very least."

. . .

Espio and Boo stared with wide eyes as Shadow and Wario were snarling and rolling around in the globs of trash on the ground. Monty Mole and Omega bore no visible emotion, as they were trying to get the ball almost as much as Shadow and Wario were.

"Though something tells me they don't really care about the ball…" Boo trailed as he witnessed Shadow dunk Wario's face back into the landfill.

At long last, Omega managed to gain the ball and propelled it as far away from Shadow and Wario as he could possibly get. The other sidekicks were quick to follow, and as soon as Wario saw the ball in play, he shoved Shadow off of him and trotted after.

"No you don't!" Shadow cried, tripping Wario and skating after the ball with ease. Wario pulled his face out of the ground for a third time and growled.

"Wario won't let you get away with this!"

"Stop talking in third person," Shadow muttered back without a care.

Wario said no more and wobbled after Shadow, who was rushing after Omega. The robot was making great progress down the field…until he realized he no longer had the ball.

"Where did the spherical object disappear to?"

"Eee hee hee hee!" cackled Boo, flying to the opposite side of the field with the ball in his possession- literally.

"All right Boo!" Wario cheered. "Now go make a goal on that pathetic excuse for a goalie!"

"I take offense!" Silver shouted back, only to blanch when he heard a rather strong poomph echo from the goal.

Boo and Monty Mole shared a high five while Espio promptly facepalmed.

"I scored! Yeah! Yeah!" cheered Wario, pulling out a yellow foam finger made especially for him. Shadow just shook his head pitifully.

"Silver's shaping up be impressive, as expected," Waluigi heckled, making Shadow fume as the ball was given to him.

"Shut up- it was a lucky shot…"

"If that was a lucky shot, then I'm looking forward to seeing what a normal shot is!" snickered Wario.

"Okay, that's it- I'm not going easy on anyone anymore!"

"If that was easy, then-"

"CHAOS BLAST!"

. . .

"Hit the deck!" shouted Yoshi, falling to the floor within seconds of hearing Shadow's announcement.

"But I just had my eighth shower and that ground is filthy!" Rouge protested, only to be dragged down by Petey. He pulled her close, causing her to groan very loudly.

"This won't be pretty…" moaned Luigi, quaking like a leaf.

"I have a feeling we'll be spending most of the match under our chairs," Tails stated with a sigh.

. . .

Before anyone on Wario's team could even make a run for in, a large red dome of chaos energy emitted from Shadow and brought several globs of trash up with it. It rained down on Wario's team, briefly stunning them as Shadow passed the ball to Espio and bolted.

"If you think it'll be that easy," huffed Wario, wiping the muck off his head. "You are sadly mistaken!"

Espio made his way down to Waluigi's end, but just as soon as he had a clear shot, Monty Mole poked his head out of the ground and tripped the ninja.

"Ninjas do not _trip_!" Espio declared, pushing himself off the ground. "We're too cool for that."

"Then what did you call that?" Omega asked as he assisted him off the ground.

"A simple error in running."

"_Please,"_ Waluigi said while rolling his eyes.

Meanwhile, Wario had managed to gain possession of the ball, but due to the fact he was a terrible runner, he gave the ball to Boo. They would pass on their way back to Silver, with the futuristic hedgehog becoming more and more nervous by the moment. Wario grinned as he closed in on Silver, looking for a good place to aim.

"This match should be a snap…"

"A snap for me, maybe," Shadow's gruff voice retorted, follow by a snap of his fingers. The ground in front of Wario literally exploded, causing the ball to fly upwards and be free game for anyone. Shadow was over there in a flash, but Boo popped up in front of him and flashed his scary face.

"What the- ? !"

"Sucker!" Boo snickered, stealing the ball as a dazed Shadow landed back on the ground. Boo gave the ball back to Wario, who trotted up a few steps and kicked the ball into the goal.

"WAAARIO! YEAH YEAH!"

Shadow shook off his brief setback, only to witness Wario belly slide along the ground and for Silver to sheepishly give him the ball again. Outraged, Shadow stomped over to Silver and gave him a very irritated look.

"How can you let those balls get by you so easily?" Shadow asked incredulously.

"W-well, I never see them coming and they go so fast and-"

"You're psychic! If you can't predict where the ball is going to go, the least you can do is stop them with your powers!"

"Isn't that cheating though?" Silver asked, scratching his head.

"You'd be playing to the best of your ability- that can't possibly be cheating."

"Okay Shadow…"

Shadow gave a firm nod and returned to the center of the field, only to be heckled once again by the opposing team. Snarling, he gave the ball a hearty kick, with Espio going after it, but Boo gracefully pushed the chameleon out of the way and claim the ball for himself.

"Are weapons authorized, Captain Shadow?" Omega asked, loading up his flame throwers.

"As long as no one gets hurts…because then we'd get penalized.

"FIRE! FIRE!"

Boo, Monty Mole, and Wario had a field day working their way back to Silver. Silver winced and readied himself, but despite Shadow's pep talk- err, warning, he still wasn't feeling very confident. Boo and Monty Mole were passing to each other easily, with Espio struggling to get in a steal.

This quickly came to a stop when fire suddenly appeared in their path, forcing Boo, Monty Mole, and Espio to come to a heartbreaking stop. Out of the flames jumped Shadow, aiming for Boo, but Boo kicked the ball behind him, which Wario seized and made off with.

"What? NO!"

"Wah ha ha ha!" Wario laughed, taking aim directly in front of Silver. "Wario will be number one!"

Right before he kicked the ball, Shadow came out of nowhere and tackled him. The tackle was so forceful that it sent them both flying into the electric fence.

. . .

"I know the sport is called "Football" almost everywhere, but that was ridiculous!" scoffed Peach.

"Still, Shadow doesn't seem to be himself…" pondered Amy.

"What're you talking about? He already threatened that he wouldn't go easy! All we need now is for him to start up on his revenge fetish."

"Well, he hasn't pulled out a gun yet," Junior pointed out with a shrug. "Clearly that means there's still potential that it will get worse."

"Plus Shadow's losing, so he'll really _lose_ it eventually," snickered Sonic.

. . .

"Two can play at this game…" Wario grumbled, still sitting in the mud next to the fence. Shadow had taken off already, despite receiving the harsher end of the electrocution.

But then again, the ultimate life form could withstand much more pain than a fat yellow plumber, so it really wasn't that surprising.

"Get back here!" grunted Boo, he and Monty Mole taking off after Shadow. Omega was positioned at Shadow's right, firing endless ammo in their direction. However, this was easily evaded by Monty Mole digging underground and Boo flying slightly higher than usual. Shadow and Espio were furiously passing among each other, which was going smoothly until Boo started swooping in and out like a bat.

"Give it back! Give it back!"

"Will you go away?" Shadow grunted angrily, swatting at the ghost frantically. While Shadow was dealing with Boo, Espio skidded to a stop in front of Waluigi and took a shot. The ball soared toward the right of the net, but Waluigi was over there in a single bound and blocked the shot.

"Yeah! YEAH!"

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Espio, watching the ball fly away from the net. However, Shadow leapt up, intercepted it in midair, and sent it back at Waluigi. Waluigi was so busy cheering that he didn't notice the ball coming his way.

"Look out, moron!" yelled Wario, still trying to get over to the action while still recovering.

"Wah- ? !"

The ball clonked Waluigi in the head, bouncing off his forehead and landing smoothly into the net. As Waluigi started seeing stars, Shadow returned back to the ground and struck a pose.

"Did you expect anything less from the ultimate?"

"Yay Shadow!" Silver cheered, whistling afterwards.

"Wah wah wah," Wario grumbled, returning to the center of the field. "It's still 2-1, and who's the winner? WARIO'S DA WINNER!"

"We still have plenty of time left, so don't get in over your head yet," Espio scoffed.

"Affirmative. Odds of Captain Shadow winning are eighty percent!"

"Only eighty?" complained Shadow. "I should be one hundred!"

"There are still the odds of you losing just for humorous effect-"

"What the heck does that mean? !"

"Ah, SHUT UP!" Wario roared, kicking the ball hard enough to force Shadow's team to duck. Boo took off after it like a bullet, intercepting the ball and bringing it back down to Silver's goal.

"Here I come! Eee hee hee hee!"

Silver gulped and slightly flinched, but this was unnecessary because Espio jumped in front of the shot, the ball ricocheting off his armor. Monty Mole got the ball after that, but Omega "unintentionally" whacked him over the head and took the ball for himself.

"Wario!" Waluigi shouted, madly stomping his foot in the goal. "How can you allow this to happen? !"

"Allow what?" Wario asked, standing defensively a few paces away from Waluigi.

"Them to get the ball so easily!"

"We get it back and score, don't we?"

Waluigi groaned and smacked his forehead. "Listen, don't you think it's time to bust out a secret weapon of some sort?"

"Not yet," Wario protested, jumping in Omega's way and pushing the robot over. He kicked the ball away for Monty Mole to obtain, but Shadow stepped on his head as Espio regained possession. Waluigi just gawked.

"This is a perfect time! Use it! Use it!"

Boo slammed into Espio as Monty Mole retrieved the ball back. Before he could make off with it, Shadow slid between his legs, took it for himself, and aimed at the goal. Waluigi jumped at it, but it glanced off his shoulder and landed in the net nevertheless.

"I'll never get my dignity back at this rate…" the purple plumber grumbled on the ground as he watched the opposing team burst out in celebration.

. . .

"When are they going to go at each other's throats? !" Daisy complained. "I paid big money to see PAIN!"

"What're you talking about?" Knuckles questioned, giving her a quizzical look. "We get in for free, plus the idea is for Shadow and Wario to make it out alive."

"That's no fun," grumbled Junior, folding his arms.

"I think it's nice that Mr. Shadow and Mr. Wario are having a nice clean match with not too much hatred towards each other!" Cream said happily while clasping her hands. She blinked upon receiving silence, but this ended quickly when several members of the group started chucking popcorn.

"BOO! BOO!" Daisy started yelling afterwards.

. . .

"So the score is tied, now…" Shadow trailed, glancing up at the scoreboard. "Looks like we'll have to pull out all the stops now…"

"I'd say we already were, but we've just been really lucky," scoffed Espio. Shadow was in his faces moments later.

"Luck? ! Who was the one that made both our goals? Me, Shadow, the ultimate life form! And both were executed very stylishly, I might add."

Espio rolled his eyes.

"Regardless, we're really going to need to bring it to the table if we want to win!"

As Shadow continued his rant, Omega leaned down to Espio and whispered, "What are we bringing to the table? And where is the table in question as well?"

Meanwhile, Wario, Waluigi, Boo, and Monty Mole were all huddled up, discussing a game plan.

"I'm telling you, if you just use the secret weapon, we'll have this in the bag!"

"Hmm," Wario pondered, looking thoughtful. "Maybe it is time I busted that out…but who knows what else that psychopath will think up!"

"That's why you need to stay one step ahead!" Waluigi explained. "Hit Shadow with the secret weapon, and he'll be so dazed that he won't even be able to think straight! Then, it'll be us for the win and the entire group will be bowing at my feet because we took down the ultimate life form and-"

"Whoa whoa whoa,_ you_? ! This is my match!"

"Okay, fine, they'll be bowing at_ our_ feet, and my embarrassing loss against that hedgehog with the freaky hairdo won't even be remembered!"

"Despite the fact it sounds like you're using me, I like the sound of this plan! Let's do it!"

Waluigi devilishly rubbed his hands together as he returned to the goal. "Excellent…"

Wario waddled back to center field where Shadow, Omega, and Espio were waiting.

"Ready for part two?" Shadow asked, his red eyes flaring as he crouched slightly. Wario stood up as straight as he could go and scoffed.

"Of course I'M ready! The question is, will you be ready?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you mean…"

Wario smirked. "Wait and find out."

He kicked the ball backward to Monty Mole, who slammed it up and forward to Boo, who was already halfway down the field. He retrieved the ball flawlessly and cackled as he did so.

"After him!" Shadow ordered, and he, Omega, and Espio made tracks. Meanwhile, Wario just stayed where he was, grinning to himself. Monty Mole, confused, poked Wario several times to get him to move.

""Back off, fool! I've got a plan, remember?"

Monty Mole just made a face, but as he quickly remembered, he scooted away from Wario as fast as possible.

Back on the other side of the field, Boo was getting majorly ganged up on by the opposing team, and he had a feeling he didn't have the upper hand anymore.

"Hand over the ball, nice and easy!" Espio ordered, striking a fighting stance. Boo quivered, feeling very threatened by Espio's ninja skills, Omega's arsenal of weapons, and Shadow in general. All Shadow had to do was take a step closer to him and Boo cracked.

"FINE! FINE! Your brutality may win this round, but mark my words, YOU WILL PAY!"

"Just give us the ball," Shadow deadpanned, Omega shaking Boo until he released the ball. Shadow was on the ball instantly, with Espio running along his left side.

"You've been a great asset," Omega said, still clutching Boo's tiny tail in his robotic hand. Boo made a face.

"Just let go of me and stop adding insult to injury."

"As you wish."

Omega dropped Boo, causing the ghost to land face first into the mud.

"All right Wario," Waluigi began, back on the other side of the field. "They're making their way over right now! Get ready!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Wario said idly without a care. "Let me handle this!"

"Just don't screw it up…"

"We're home free," Shadow announced, as he and his team was coming up on Wario. "All we need to do is go in for the kill!"

"I'm afraid it will be _I_ that is going in for the kill," Wario retorted before suddenly clenching. Shadow had to break to a stop to investigate what the heck he was doing this time.

"What is he doing?" Espio asked, stopping to watch Wario. Shadow just shrugged.

"I dunno, but he looks constipated. If he wants to stand there, then let him be. I've got a match to win!"

"If you say so…" Espio trailed, passing Shadow the ball and carrying on.

Waluigi grinned as they approached- he was so confident in his plan that he wasn't even going to bother blocking! Shadow caught this and tried to score before anything happened…but all it took was to be one second late before catastrophe struck.

Waluigi strapped on a gas mask and cackled, "Prepare for the Wario Waft!"

. . .

"Wario _what?"_ Rouge asked, suddenly frozen in her seat.

"Back to hitting the deck if we value our puny lives!" Yoshi screamed, diving back onto the floor.

"Shadow's going to kill him for sure!" winced Luigi, looking pale.

"Every man for himself!" shouted Sonic, pushing his way as far away from the field as he could get, even if it meant elbowing someone in the face.

"Ow! Watch it, Sonic!"

"Sorry Mario…"

"Why don't we have a bomb shelter for these kinds of things?" grumbled Peach.

"I don't know, but _that_ is a very good idea," responded Tails.

"Everyone stop talking!" ordered Blaze. "We'll be less likely to breath in the toxins!"

. . .

"I don't see what the big deal is," Omega said bluntly, standing in the middle of the sickly brown cloud of stink.

"Are you kidding me, Omega? !" Silver shrieked. "I can smell that all the way over here!"

"WARIO!" Shadow shouted as he fell to his knees, shaking his fists to the sky before quickly slumping over. Espio saw Shadow rapidly succumbing to his adversary's greatest weapon and ran over to him.

"Shadow! Shadow! Don't cave in! I know it's ungodly foul, but that's exactly what they want you to think!"

"Wah ha ha ha!" Waluigi cackled, dancing around in the goal. "It went perfectly! Shadow the Hedgehog is now down for the count! This victory belongs to WALUIGI- I mean, _Wario_, I guess…"

Wario felt great relief as he stole the ball from the unconscious Shadow. Monty Mole had long ago burrowed himself underground, and he wasn't coming out until the stench was_ gone_.

"I'm so lucky I'm dead," Boo stated as he floated alongside Wario. "Otherwise this smell would kill me!"

"Oh, can it; it wasn't even full blast," Wario grunted. "It was just enough to knock Shadow out, and that doesn't take very much to do…"

Boo was dying to reply to that statement, but decided it was better to keep his mouth shut and just charge up the ball. Once the metallic ball was glowing white, Wario kicked it upwards and took off after it.

"Oh- GACK- man…I'm totally- UGH- screwed…" moaned Silver, hardly able to keep himself standing with the fumes surrounding him.

"Yes, yes, YES!" Waluigi celebrated, busting out into a jig. "I couldn't have asked for better!"

"Shadow…" Espio moaned as Wario perched himself up in the air, preparing his Mega Strike. He sucked in a ton of air, making him even bigger and rounder than usual.

With one giant puff, Wario sent the ball flying downwards, splitting it into six.

"…for Shadow!" Silver cried, taking a stance as the cascade of balls came toward him. As the first ball came down, Silver held up a hand and stopped it in its tracks, surrounding the ball in a sea green glow. When balls two, three, four, and five came down, Silver stopped those the same way.

"Ha ha!" he cheered…until ball number six came crashing down like a rocket and slammed into his stomach. Feeling the wind knocked out of him, he lost control over two of the balls, causing a total of three balls to touch the net.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to bunt Wario into a decent lead.

"Yeah, yeah HOO HAH!" Wario cheered, unable to contain his excitement. He even managed to do the splits and stand back up again without showing any signs of pain.

Espio, Silver, and Omega all simultaneously dropped their jaws…well, Omega would if he _had_ a jaw.

. . .

"That's it, I've seen everything," Mario groaned as the group came out of hiding.

"Ugh! The smell of Wario is still strong," Amy exasperated.

"It's not as bad as it once was," Daisy pointed out.

"Wario's ahead by three now…" realized Knuckles. "What's Shadow going to do?"

"Shadow's still out cold…" Rouge trailed, watching Shadow still lying lifelessly on the ground. "That jerk!"

"I almost feel bad for him," admitted Luigi.

"How's he going to win now?" Sonic wondered, not taking his eyes off of the unmoving hedgehog.

. . .

"Wah ha!" Wario continued to cheer, Boo and Monty Mole tossing him into the air. However, after only two tosses, both of the sidekicks couldn't take it anymore, causing Wario to land on both of them. "What? ! KEEP THROWING ME!"

Silver glanced from Shadow to Wario and back again. "When he wakes up, he's going to kill me!"

"_If_ he wakes up," Espio pointed out, still smacking away at Shadow. Needless to say, it was all fruitless. "Oooh…what're we going to do?"

"We must fight for our fallen comrade!" Omega announced, holding his guns up high.

"There's no way we can make three goals in less than a minute," Espio huffed. "Might as well throw in the towel."

"Curse you Wario and your toxic flatulence!" Silver shouted to the sky dramatically. "How dare you knock out our captain with nothing more than a putrid odor! YOU FIEND!"

"Get a grip," Omega ordered. "We play this out until the end!"

Espio stood up and nodded. "Fine. I think Shadow might've wanted that…"

"Still going? Ha! Give it up, losers!" Waluigi called. "You're toast!"

"Ain't that the truth!" Wario added, feeling totally pumped. "Let's finish this!"

He plowed forward, slamming into Espio and jacking the ball away from him. As Espio spun around on his heel, Omega started firing furiously at Wario who had stolen the ball and probably the game.

"We're so close to victory I can taste it!" Waluigi practically giggled to himself.

"Wario time!" Wario exclaimed, arriving at Silver's side of the field with forty-five seconds to spare on the clock. He kicked the ball as hard as he could, but Silver stopped it psychically and started to quiver. "Hey! You can't do that- it's cheating!"

"W-Well you KOed your opponent! I'm pretty sure that's cheating at the core, so don't start talking about _me_! NNGH!"

Silver hurled the ball over Wario's head, tossing it just high enough for Espio to leap up and kick it to Omega. Omega started storming down the field, whacking Monty Mole and threatening Boo with his weapons along the way.

"Most outrageous match EVER!" complained Boo. "Since when do_ I_ get scared? ! I'm _Boo_!_ I_ do the scaring!"

"Keep passing it, Omega!" Espio ordered, the two of them rapidly kicking it among each other. Eventually they got it to glow white, but before they could aim the ball at Waluigi's net, Monty Mole popped up underneath the ball, using his head to punt it into the air.

"NO!" shouted Espio.

"Most unfortunate outcome!" yelled Omega, only to receive weird looks.

"Now you know you're the ones that need to be scared!" Boo chortled, spinning in the air and propelling the white-glowing ball down the mucky field. It was targeted right for Silver's net, and as Shadow's team lost all hope, Wario's team was already planning an after party.

However, the ball didn't quite make it to Silver's net…

…it instead landed on Shadow's head, causing him to finally stir.

. . .

"He's alive!" Rouge cheered, jumping uto of her seat.

"That's doesn't mean he's going to win the match- there's only twenty seconds left!" Daisy huffed.

"Who are you trying to kid?" scoffed Sonic. "That's just enough time for a miracle!"

"I dunno, I almost feel like Wario deserves to lose," Luigi said with a shrug.

"But then that's one less point for us!" Junior countered. "We can't afford a loss!"

. . .

"Unh…Maria?" Shadow uttered, finally coming to. "I remember Wario, a horrid stench, and me yelling to the sky before it all went black…"

"SHADOW!" Silver shouted. "Pull yourself together and kick the ball, quick! QUICK!"

"What…?"

He glanced down, eyeing the ball that had stirred him from his unresponsive state. It was still glowing white…and Wario's team was still coming after it.

Shadow was still a bit discombobulated, but he was stable enough to step on Monty Mole once again, push Boo out of the way, and trip Wario before any of them could kick at the ball.

"Ten seconds!" Espio announced, looking worriedly at the clock.

"Chaos…" Shadow began, kicking the ball upwards and taking off after it. "…CONTROL!"

The Dump lit up in a bright blue flash, briefly blinding the inhabitants of the stadium. When sight returned, everyone glanced up to see Shadow hovering over the field, one arm raised over the ball.

"Chaos SPEAR!"

A shining yellow spear emerged into existence, piercing the game ball and splitting it into six. Waluigi let out a squawk and tried to defend, but the first two balls went right by him without another thought. Growling, he kicked the third ball out of the air, following by denying the fourth ball with his fist. Ball number five made contact with Waluigi's shoulder, ricocheting away from the net.

"Heh heh…how's that?"

Shadow smirked as he returned back to the ground and the sixth ball flew through Waluigi's legs and slammed into the net. Once Shadow touched back down onto the ground, the buzzer went off, and he struggled to stand up again. Espio and Omega were at his side instantly, holding him up.

"Shadow! You tied the game!" Espio exclaimed, completely shocked.

"This means the game must continue into overtime," Omega announced, even though it was obvious.

"Of course," Shadow huffed. "It's all I could do at this point…"

"Wario couldn't have wiped you out that badly…could he?" Silver asked curiously. Shadow shot him a look and Silver regretted his words instantly.

"Did you _smell_ that? ! It's a wonder I didn't die!" he coughed. "Geez…I can _still_ smell it!"

"Um...oops?" Wario said sheepishly, causing Shadow to make a cow noise.

The only person that could've been more frustrated than Shadow at the moment was Waluigi.

"ARGH! NO! WE WERE SO CLOSE!"

"What're you going on about?" Boo snapped, getting in his face. "So we go into overtime- big whoop. We make another goal or two and its game set and match! Shadow's not at his one hundred percent best, so we're still at an advantage!"

"So what? We wouldn't even have to _be_ in overtime if you guys were pulling your weight! …and for Wario, that's a lot."

"HEY!"

"You're so unappreciative!" shouted Boo. "We're busting our rumps out there just to stay in the game, and you're just mad because you're still an embarrassment and thought you could leech off of Wario's match to restore your glory or something stupid like that!"

"You would too if you lost to someone like Silver!"

"HEY!"

"I don't care why anyone's doing what!" Shadow seethed, leaning on Omega for support. "I'm probably receiving brain damage as we speak, but I've got a match I'd like to win TODAY!"

"Scanners say that your brain is functioning just properly, Shadow. The fumes may still be going to your head, however…"

"Are you sure that you're up for this?" Espio asked. "You really don't look that good."

"I refuse to lose to Wario," Shadow grunted. "It's worse than Waluigi losing to Silver!"

"I'm standing right here and being verbally insulted!" Silver shouted. "Are we playing another round or what?"

"We can go at it again," Wario grunted, circling Shadow like he was pray. "After all, another blast from me and he'll be really down for the count!"

"I dare you to try that again!" Shadow hissed, being held back by Omega and Espio.

"Take it to the field, gentlemen," Boo stated, defusing the argument. "Let's just get this thing over with!"

"It'll be your pleasure," Shadow grunted, wrestling out of Omega and Espio's grip…only to fall over.

Wario burst out laughing as the ball was dropped, and overtime began for the second time this tournament.

. . .

"This is so exciting!" Amy squealed, gripping Sonic tightly. "How is this going to end? !"

"With me losing my arm?" the speed demon groaned.

"Shadow's pretty determined…" Blaze realized.

"But Wario knows that Shadow's not one hundred percent up to it…and by "it", I mean intent on destroying Wario," Mario replied.

"Shadow isn't the type to go down easy…" Rouge trailed nervously.

"One last blow from Wario will surely do him in, though!" Yoshi cried. "OH, THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!"

"Shut up and watch! This is actually interesting!" Junior exclaimed, leaning forward in his seat.

"Are you happy you stuck around now?" Cream asked. Junior blinked, then gave a small shrug.

"Eh, maybe."

"TEAR HIM A NEW ONE, WARIO!" shouted Daisy, shaking her fists in the air.

. . .

Wario tore down the field like a train, knocking over everything and everyone in his path.

"Woo hoo! Now t_his_ is what I'm talking about!" Boo cried as he and Monty Mole trailed behind Wario. Wario cackled and shot at Silver, but Silver stopped it easily and threw it Shadow's way. Shadow received the ball and dribbled it down the field, but Boo easily swooped in front of him and snagged it away again.

As Shadow went on a cursing spree, Omega jumped in front of the speeding Boo and aimed his turrets at him. Boo took one look at the weapons and laughed.

"Ha! Those aren't going to scare me this time!"

Omega fired several bullets, but quite obviously they went right through Boo. Boo cackled again, seemingly impervious to anything Omega fired at him, until Omega charged up his laser beam. Boo instantly saw the shining light and winced.

"Is that a light beam? !"

"Not quite, but close enough. Why?"

"YAAAAARGH!"

Boo dropped the ball and flew away before the bema could fully charge, leaving Omega to easily pass the ball to Espio.

"That went better than expected."

"Just focus on scoring," Espio ordered, playing keep away with Monty Mole.

"Kick it away already, C'MON!" Waluigi yelled, much to the annoyance of Monty Mole. Espio still managed to maneuver around Monty Mole's tricks and shot at Waluigi, but Wario made a daring sacrifice and jumped in front of the ball. It bounced off his belly, flying into the still escaping Boo.

Boo quickly turned heel and flew down the field once again, but Omega was once again tailing him.

"Come on, man! Leave me alone!"

"Not until Shadow achieves victory and revenge!" Omega declared, taking aim with the laser beam once more. Boo let out a high pitched shriek, but he didn't dare turn and run. Not this time!

The Boo flew as fast as he could go, but he was stopped dead in his tracks when Omega's laser lightly glanced his tail. One little bit of light was enough to send the ghost into a fit of pain.

"OW! OW! OW! Not fair! NOT FAIR!"

Boo started spinning around in rapid circles to shake off the pain while Omega snagged the ball and ran off with it. As soon as he hit center field, Wario threw himself onto the ground, causing the rather large robot to trip.

"Take that, loser!" Wario snickered, standing up rather quickly and running off again. "This-a match belongs to Wario!"

"I told you to stop talking in third person!" Shadow shouted, coming up on Wario at full speed. The hedgehog rammed into his back, forcing both of them to fall forward and slide quite a ways in the mud. The majority of the audience gasped, but it was cut short when a furious Wario grabbed Shadow and hurled him into the electric fence.

"Oh man," Espio cringed, turning away from the sight. "That really has to hurt!"

"Daaaaah!"

Shadow collapsed back onto the ground, now occasionally sparking with electricity. He struggled to glance up, but once he did, he saw a sight he certainly didn't like.

Wario was laughing at him.

"Wah ha ha ha! That's-a what happens when you go against the great Wario!"

He ran off again, not noticing Shadow seething with rage.

"You just sit there and watch me win…which is guaranteed because I feel another doozy of a fart coming on."

"Oh, GREAT!" Silver cried, debating on whether or not to stick his head in the mud before Wario let loose.

Wario made the grave mistake of stopping in the middle of the field to prepare his mega blast, still with the ball under his feet. Omega and Espio were smart enough not to try to take the ball, and Boo and Monty Mole were smart enough to clear out of the way.

However, Shadow was not so smart.

He pushed himself up off the ground, looking even worse than before. He took slow steps towards Wario, uttering nothing more than:

"Death to all who oppose me."

Wario's fumes started surrounding him while Shadow was glowing in a malicious red aura. As several seconds passed, but it felt like years, they both belted out with:

"WARIO-" "-CHAOS-" "-WAFT-" "-BLAST!"

. . .

"For all that is good and holy, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Yoshi screamed as the rest of the group was running around in frantic circles.

"If only we had a bomb shelter!" cried Peach.

"This is worse than a bomb!" countered Rouge.

"Well then it's a good thing I built one off to the side in a few minutes!" Tails announced, gesturing to a random bomb shelter situated behind the stands.

"But then we won't see who wins!" Cream stated innocently.

"We won't see who wins if we're dead either," replied Junior, grabbing her wrist and running. "To the bomb shelter if we want any hope at living!"

"Gang way!" "Make a path!" "You don't have to go home but we're certainly not staying here!"

. . .

The entire dump was enveloped in a brownish-red blast, one that contained raw power and killer stench. Omega, Boo, Espio, and Monty Mole were all huddled in a corner while Silver and Waluigi were stunned to their spots.

Somewhere in the cloud of death was Wario lying on the ground and Shadow looking even worse if that was possible.

"Looks like someone was destined to die in this match after all," Shadow chuckled sarcastically.

"Oog…I feel like I was hit by a truck…" groaned Wario. "What happened…?"

"I dunno," huffed Shadow. "I'm just surprised the stadium is still standing."

"Well in that case," Wario chortled, standing up and kicking the ball. "I'd better wrap this up!"

He started trotting down the field, but was stopped almost instantly.

"I don't think so," Shadow said darkly, holding Wario away from the ball. "I'm going to win this match, even if it kills me!"

"Good luck getting through the fume cloud," Wario seethed. "After all, it knocked you out last time! Just think of what'll happen this time around!"

"You have the right to shut up!" Shadow shouted, literally kicking Wario to the side.

"WAH WAH WAH WAH! ?"

As Wario fought to pull himself out of the muck _once again_, Shadow started to run off with the ball, but he could already tell what lingered of the Wario Waft was taking its toll. Looking thoughtful, he got down low and started army crawling, pushing the ball along with his elbows.

"Gotta stay low, gotta stay low…"

Wario eventually freed himself and caught Shadow making his way to the goal. Furious, he called out to his team.

"Where are you, minions? ! Why am I doing everything by myself!"

"Who are you calling a minion?" snapped Boo. "I get no respect around here!"

"It's not our fault that you made the field unplayable!" added Espio, starting to run back into action. "What happened to Shadow?"

"Shadow is trying to get the ball to the goal," Omega replied after scanning the field.

"Stop him!" Wario shouted, and Monty Mole started burrowing underground. He worked his way under the field, not returning to the surface until he was directly under Shadow.

"HEY!" Shadow yelped, suddenly being propelled into the air. Monty Mole snickered as he obtained the ball, but he quickly lost it to Espio.

"Go Omega!" he shouted, kicking the ball in the robot's direction. Omega received it and shot the ball at the net, but Waluigi blocked it easily.

"I refuse to lose after all this!"

"Just end it already!" whined Boo. "The field's in shambles, we're in shambles, and we're playing like animals now! …no offense to those who ARE animals, heh heh…"

"Never!" Waluigi declared.

Espio retrieved the ball once again and shot it, but once again Waluigi was there to block it.

"Give it up! You can't win!"

"You can't win either if you don't score, either," Omega pointed out. Waluigi stopped laughing and blinked.

"Oh, can it! I dare you to try and score again!"

"Gladly."

"What? !"

Shadow descended out of the mist, ball balanced on his foot. He spun around, sending the ball in Waluigi's direction. Waluigi twirled to the other side of the net and propelled the ball away. Enraged, Shadow jumped back up, did a 360, and made hard contact with the ball. It whizzed over Waluigi's shoulder and slammed into the net.

The buzzer went off, declaring the match officially over.

"NOOOOOOO!" Waluigi wailed, falling to his knees in despair. Thinking fast, he pulled out a bob-omb and tossed it to Wario. "Quick! Use this to get him back one more time!"

"Wah? !" Wario muttered, suddenly finding a bomb in his hands. "I don't really think…Aw, I give up…" Wario groaned, allowing the bomb in his hand to blow up.

Now furious, he started wresting with the metal ball until he ended up trying to squeeze it in his hands. "Grrr…I hate you, you stupid-"

BOOM!

"…ball?"

Shadow chuckled darkly as Wario's mustache started to smoke.

"Ah, priceless…all it takes is one simple snap…"

"Shadow, you pulled it off!" Espio cried as he, Omega, and Silver running up to him.

"How'd you do that?" Silver yelped. "That was so cool!"

"I am the ultimate lifeform," Shadow said while striking a pose. "I was destined to win! And best of all, I BEAT WARIO! Victory is mine! Ah ha ha ha ha! Ah…"

With that, Shadow fell to the ground once again, with Espio, Omega, and Silver quickly picking him up and carrying him back to the lounge.

. . .

"What? What? !" Shadow suddenly shouted, sitting up on the table in the lounge. Everyone was gathered around, with Mario at Shadow's right side and poking him constantly.

"That blast left him with a few scratches and his lungs are still quite full with the fumes, but he'll be fine," Mario diagnosed. Shadow instantly jumped off the table and swatted Mario away.

"Get away from me! Of course I'm fine! I'm the ultimate!"

"Yup, he's fine all right," grunted Sonic, who was updating the scoreboard. "At least he won…now we're tied 3-3!"

"Speaking of, where did Wario and Waluigi go?" asked Peach, glancing around.

"They're in the locker room beating each other up over the loss," Daisy explained, shaking her head. "Idiots!"

"I can't believe we're all alive after that match!" exclaimed Yoshi. "I mean, between the blasts and the farting and the pain and the mega-combo attack and the revenge, you have to wonder if it was a miracle!"

"I think we all got a little carried away that time around…" Silver admitted, scratching the back of his head. "Hopefully the next match won't be as…"

"Life threatening?" guessed Knuckles, eating a pack of peanuts.

"Er…yeah."

"That depends on who goes next," Blaze pointed out, turning to Mario. "Who's up next?"

Mario shrugged. "Eh, you and Daisy can go next, since we're nearing the end…"

"Darn, I was hoping for another randomized pizza…" Knuckles said with disappointment.

"YES!" Daisy cheered, jumping into the air like a cheerleader. "And the winner will be me me me ME!"

"Aw man…" Blaze groaned. "I knew this would happen eventually…"

"And that reminds _me_," Mario added, walking up to Sonic. "Any other special sidekicks you have planned?"

Sonic looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Yeah, there WAS supposed to be one more for Blaze, but I dunno if she's going to be able to come.

"Well if ya managed to get me here, I'm sure she'll be here!" Mighty assured. "Well…whoever she is."

"Yeah, probably-"

"Sorry I'm late, mates!" a thick accented voice called out, belonging to a small girl. She had kicked the door to the lounge open with her green shoed foot, and was now greeting everyone with a bright grin. "I got a wee bit lost on my way here, but I made it just in time, right mates?"

Blaze's jaw dropped as she turned to Sonic, who was now looking very sheepish.

"You didn't!"

"Um…I did…"

* * *

**Shadow and Wario's match came out WAY different than I envisioned...but I'm okay with this one. Anyway****, Blaze and Daisy are up next, and let me say I've been waiting quite a while for this one. ^^**

**And as for the next "suprise" guest, it's actually quite obvious if you're a seasoned Sonic fan (or just played the one game she's in). If you don't have a clue, however, I'll explain next time.**


	9. The Princess Showdown

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!

The Princess Showdown

_Match 7: Princess Daisy vs Blaze the Cat_  
_Goalies: Petey Piranha and Rouge the Bat_  
_Stadium: Crystal Canyon_  
_Current Score: Mario- 3, Sonic-3_

"So, Marine, what do you think of the lounge?" Peach asked the raccoon sitting across from her. Marine was busy munching on nachos, after Toad checked to make sure there was nothing suspicious about them.

"I think it's right cozy, mate," Marine replied, dipping her chip into the cheese. "And that snack doohickey has a mighty fine assortment of goodies!"

"I think I like her," Daisy chuckled, leaning on Marine's chair.

"Just be careful, she does have a tendency to be…a bit annoying…" Blaze warned.

"Annoying?" Daisy asked, gesturing to the raccoon. "She's totally sweet!"

"And she's smart!" added Tails. "You should see the things she builds!"

"Hopefully she's as good at the game as she is smart then," Daisy replied. "Because I am pumped and in it to win it!"

"Well as long as Blaze has me on her team, she'll have nothing to worry about!" Marine exclaimed. "She can count on me to be extra…extraor…"

"Extraordinary?" Blaze meekly guessed. Marine grinned.

"Yup! That'd be the word, mate!"

"Aw, how cute!" Peach gushed, ruffling the raccoon's fur.

"Blah, blah, blah, she's adorable," Shadow sighed impatiently. "C'mon, there's a match we need to get to!"

"See ya then," Daisy smirked, exiting the lounge instantly. "Let's go, Petey. Don't be late!"

"Screeeech!" Petey replied, waving his leafy arm in response. As Daisy and her team left, Blaze was left looking very, very nervous.

"What's up with you?" Yoshi asked, gnawing a melon. "If you're this nervous you'll never win!"

"I know, I know…I can't help it!"

"No worries, mate!" Marine exclaimed, patting Blaze on the back. "There's no way we'll lose to blokes like them!"

Blaze's palm made harsh contact with her forehead.

. . .

The cat walked out onto the Crystal Canyon field, lost in awe. The crystals surrounding the stadium were beautiful, the lighting added an enchanting flair to the atmosphere, but the actual field left something to be desired.

"Boy, the ground's drier than bland toast in the desert!" Marine cried, jumping up and down several times. "What kind o' field would this be, mates?"

"It doesn't really matter," groaned Blaze. "We just need to use it to our advantage."

"That's right!" shouted Charmy, arriving on the scene. "Oh, this should be fun!"

Blaze instantly lost her composure and whirled around to face Charmy. _"You're_ on my team too? !"

"Yup! Isn't it great! ?"

"Fantastic…"

"Just don't let yourself get beaten up like in the goal, hon," Rouge called, standing in the goal herself. Blaze made a face and turned her back to her.

"Yeah, well, you just don't worry about breaking a nail or something."

As Rouge turned away and scoffed, Daisy's team arrived on the field, consisting of Koopa and Boo, with Petey making his way to the goal. He sent a look Rouge's way and let out a purr. Rouge gulped and scooted toward the corner.

"I'm scared, Boo," Koopa admitted, shaking in his boots. "You know how Daisy gets when she starts losing…"

"Please don't remind me," Boo shivered. "She's scarier than me! But this team shouldn't be too hard- we're probably worrying for nothing!"

"I hope you're right…"

That's when a progressive rock theme echoed throughout the Stadium, Koopa and Boo nervously looking up. Daisy came spiraling out of the sky, doing a quick flip before landing and grinning at Blaze.

"Come on!"

Marine whistled. "Goodness she's confident!"

Daisy stood up straight and folded her arms. "Well, did you expect something less?"

"No, but it's mighty impressive, mate!"

"Pease don't encourage her," groaned Blaze, Boo, and Koopa. Daisy gave them all a look before turned to Marine.

"Don't let them stop you from having an opinion, kiddo. If you want to think I'm awesome, then go right ahead!"

Blaze groaned and smacked her forehead. "Oh brother…"

"Hey, are you sure you're ready to go?" Daisy asked, noticing Blaze's discombobulated demeanor. "You're looking sorta pale…"

"Maybe it's the aftermath from that brawl in the locker room," Blaze huffed back.

"Hmph! You started that!"

"I did not! If anyone, it was you!"

"Well, forget that!" Daisy exclaimed. "We'll settle things here and now, on the field, once and for all!"

"Isn't "once and for all" a little overkill?" asked Boo.

"Shh- it's for dramatic effect!"

Blaze just groaned again as Marine pushed her out of the way to stare down Daisy.

"Listen up, mate! You might be fancy smancy and think you're all high and mighty, but you lot couldn't kick a can down your own driveway, let alone a ball into a net! I outta-"

"Okay, I think that's enough," Blaze interrupted, pushing Marine back to her spot. "As much as I'm enjoying this_ invigorating_ discussion, I think we should get started."

"Ditto," Daisy agreed, and thus the ball was dropped.

. . .

"All right folks, place your bets!" Mario exclaimed, waving around the Randomizer as he did so. "The lucky contestants who guess the winner of the match win a choice of a free randomized pizza or a delectable snack from the vending machine!"

"Heck yes!" Knuckles cheered, instantly placing a bet. "Dibs on Daisy!"

"Are you kidding me, Knucklehead?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

"What? That is too good of a deal to pass up!"

"You're betting against your own team for food!"

"Randomized or vendorized food, thank you!"

As Sonic promptly facepalmed, Mario walked over to him and nudged him in the arm.

"Who do you think's-a gonna win?"

"I hope it's Blaze… but I gotta admit, I was totally digging Daisy's theme."

"I hope Blaze wins just so we can see the look of crushing disappointment of Knuckles' face," chuckled Junior.

. . .

Daisy's team had possession of the ball, with the ball being controlled by Daisy herself. Her sidekicks were running alongside her, and found it actually quite painful to keep up.

"C'mon guys, pick up the pace!" Daisy order, swerving around the rocks and cracks in the field. "We've got a match to win!"

"Aren't you going a bit too strong?" huffed Koopa, already looking like he was getting ready to keel over.

"We just started too!" whined Boo, hardly able to fly fast enough.

**Meanwhile, still in the middle of the field-**

"All right, mates, they think they've got the upper hand on us, but they're mighty wrong! All's we gotta do is find holes in their defenses, exploit their weakness, and prevent them from scoring!" Marine declared, drawing in the dirt with a stray stick.

"Excellent plan!" Charmy agreed, even though he was looking at it upside down. "So, um…where'd the other team go?"

"They're already to our goal," Blaze deadpanned, really not feeling up to anything now.

"Well what the deuce are we waitin' for?" Marine barked, taking off. "We can't just stand here and make plans! Yeesh, ya think the cap'n would know that…"

Blaze just groaned and trudged down the field as Marine and Charmy bolted off.

. . .

"So Blaze isn't feeling it…" sighed Sonic, drumming his fingers on the side of his chair.

"Maybe she's just not fired up yet," snickered Silver, until Waluigi dunked a container of popcorn onto his head.

"Daisy seems to be off to a great start though," Peach pointed out, lightly clapping her hands.

"Let's just see how long it lasts though…" Toad trailed nervously.

. . .

Daisy reached the goal at godspeed, but Rouge had a determined look on her face.

"She's not getting anything past me…"

Daisy kicked to Boo, who passed to Koopa, who gave it back to Boo, who slipped it back to Daisy. Daisy kicked it into the air, then jumped up and shot it at the goal. Rouge was already there, easily lifting up her hands and catching the ball.

"Hey, what? !" Daisy exclaimed as soon as she landed on the ground. Rouge just smirked and bowled the ball back into play.

"Guess I learned a thing or two from the knucklehead…"

"Oh snap!" Boo cried. "She's probably secretly a good goalie like Waluigi or something!"

Rouge chuckled and winked at the ghost. "You got that right, hon!"

"But you forget," Koopa pointed out, watching Daisy retrieve the ball once again. "Petey's our goalie, and I'm pretty sure he's as good at goalie as he is at making shots…"

Daisy then blasted by the two, going in for another quick shot. However, right before she could aim, Marine skid in front of her, stole the ball, and lobbed it up to Charmy.

"'Bout time we got in the game, mate!" she giggled.

"Wheee!" Charmy cheered, landing on the ground and passing it back to Marine.

"After them!" Daisy shrieked, running by her sidekicks once again. The two exchanged glances.

"I think we should do something."

"Ditto."

As Marine dribbled the ball without a care, Charmy noticed the crystals around the field beginning to glow, and a sense of dread began to fill him.

"Uh…Marine, do you sense something bad about to happen?"

"Not really, mate. Why?"

"No reason…just the crystals glowing, and light shooting in our direction like lasers or something-"

"WHAT? !"

Marine instantly grabbed Charmy and threw them both to the ground, narrowly missing being struck by the ricocheting beam of light. Marine yelped again and rolled out of the way of another, which ended up striking Charmy dead on.

"Hahahahah!" he laughed crazily. "It's like an instant sauna!"

"What was that?" questioned Blaze, who was standing at the other end of the field waiting for Marine and Charmy to deliver the ball.

"That's part of the stadium's uniqueness," Daisy explained, approaching Marine as she scrambled to get up and keep the ball safe. "Sunlight reflects off the crystals and is directed onto the field, potentially harming players."

She motioned to Charmy.

"He's a prime example."

Blaze frowned at Charmy as Marine finally returned to her feet and bolted with the ball. Daisy was on her heels, running after the raccoon at full speed.

"C'mon and help me!" Daisy called to her teammates, who were already blocking the way for Marine. However, not wanting Daisy to snap at them, Koopa pulled into his shell and launched himself while Boo dove straight for the ball. Marine easily swerved the ball away from Koopa while jumping over him, but Boo went intangible and absorbed the ball into his body.

"Eee hee hee hee! Try and get it now!" he cackled, flying away quickly.

"Hey! That has to be some form of cheating, mate!" Marine yelled as she ran after him.

"Quick, Boo! Me! Me! Me! ME!" Daisy shouted, waving her arms.

Boo spun around and heaved the ball toward Daisy, who jumped into the air and performed a 360 kick. It soared right at Rouge, but in an unexpected turn of events, Blaze jumped at the ball and knocked it away with her head.

"Wow, nice save," Rouge admitted with a whistle. Blaze just returned to the ground and rubbed her head.

"Thanks…dunno where that came from though."

"Blaze, stop playing around!" Charmy ordered, flying just out of her reach. "We've gotta make a goal already!"

"Well, we need to find a way to keep the ball in our possession first of all," Blaze stated obviously.

"And get it past that no good, lowdown, creepy plant," Rouge said with a glare.

"Well what good are we gonna do when we're just standing around!" cried Charmy. Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Hello? I'm the goalie?"

Charmy ignored Rouge, snagged Blaze's wrist, and took off down the field, where Marine was fending off the opposing team all by herself. Boo was diving in and out, trying to get the ball back under his possession, Koopa was struggling to keep up with Marine, and Daisy was right in front of her, kicking wildly at the ball.

"Sure could use some backup, mates!" Marine yelled over all the commotion.

A beam of light glanced off the crystals again, this time shining in Koopa's eyes.

"AUGH! I'VE BEEN BLINDED! SPARE ME, SUNSHINE!"

…not quite what Marine intended, but she'd take it.

As Koopa ran around in circles grabbing his eyes, Marine ducked under another assault by Boo and drove the ball away from Daisy. Blaze and Charmy passed Koopa as they tried to catch up to the action, but Daisy, Boo, and Marine were moving way too fast. Boo eventually gave up on trying to steal the ball after being kicked in the face more than once, while Daisy and Marine were getting their legs entangled with each other trying to play keep away.

"Not…bad…mate…" Marine huffed, still fighting for the ball so she could take a shot.

As if she read Marine's mind, Daisy refused to cave in. "You're pretty good yourself…"

"Marine!" Blaze called, finally arriving on the scene. "Pass me the ball!"

Marine glanced at Blaze, then went to kick. Daisy dove to the ground, preparing to block the pass to Blaze.

However, Marine had no intentions of passing to Blaze.

"Huh? !"

Marine's kick sent the ball spiraling at Petey, who easily blocked it with his large head. Marine then caught the rebound and sent it back, missing Petey by a few inches and thudding into the net.

. . .

"Yeah! Go Marine!" cheered Sonic, jumping out of his seat.

"Lucky shot," huffed Waluigi, not looking impressed. "Daisy probably let that happen!"

"Dude, this match is boring! I wanna see another match where almost no one gets out alive!" Junior whined.

"Oh please no," Amy moaned, looking weak.

"I wonder why she didn't pass to Blaze though," Cream stated, sounding thoughtful.

"Too bad she didn't- if she had, there probably wouldn't have been a goal!" complained Wario.

. . .

As Daisy marched back to the center of the field, groaning, Blaze was following behind a trudging Marine.

"What's up with you?" Blaze asked, confused. "I'm the one who should be trudging! You just scored a goal!"

"Yeah, without the slightest of help, Cap'n," Marine huffed, folding her arms and turning away.

"I tried to get her to move," Charmy stated, until he was silenced by a look. Blaze then placed a hand on Marine's shoulder and turned her around.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't playing one hundred percent before- I don't know what's wrong with me," Blaze explained, scratching the back of her head. "But just be sure to get the ball to me, and I'll make it up to you."

Marine was thoughtful for a few moments, until she finally nodded."M'kay, mate. I just hope you're right…"

Meanwhile, Daisy was giving her team a very supportive and inspiring pep talk.

"WHAT WAS _THAT? !"_ The princess sneered, making Koopa and Boo shudder.

"Well, she um…made a goal?" Koopa squeaked.

"Where were you two, huh?" Daisy questioned, hands on her hips. "Now we're down by one. ONE!"

"Oh, brother…" Boo groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you can't blame me, because my corneas were being fried, thank you," Koopa scoffed.

"And if anyone's to blame, it's you, because she made the goal while you were guarding her, Daisy," added Boo.

Daisy took a deep breath and turned to face the ball. "Okay…well, regardless, this won't happen again! I'm going to stay calm…it's just the first goal, I have plenty of time."

"Is she always like this?" Charmy asked Boo.

"No, just when she's in competitive mode. Otherwise she thinks things through quite often-"

"HI-YAH!" Daisy yelled, kicking the ball as hard as she possibly could and forcing Blaze's team to duck. Marine and Charmy, taking Blaze's advice, hurried after Daisy to get the ball to Blaze.

Daisy caught up with the ball she kicked, swiftly dodging the ray of light that seemed to be targeting only her at the particular moment.

"What in the world…"

As she jumped away from another one, Daisy noticed Marine and Charmy on her tail. Also noticing two beams coming her way again, Daisy lobbed the ball into the air and performed an impressive backflip. Marine and Charmy braked to a stop, which ended up being a pretty big mistake.

The two beams of sunlight struck down, aiming for Marine and Charmy. Charmy conveniently flew out of reach, but Marine wasn't as lucky.

"OW! For the love of possums in the outback!"

"Marine!" Blaze yelped, looking on in fear along with Boo and Koopa.

"She'll be fine," Koopa explained. "The effects of being hit with the beam only last until the next goal is scored."

"And if the goal scored isn't ours, Daisy's going to do unspeakable things to us…" shivered Boo, flying to his captain to help her out. Blaze groaned at herself, but ignored whatever was making her feel dizzy as she trudged down the field. If Marine was out for the time being, then she was going to have to work extra hard.

"Charmy!" Blaze barked, and Charmy already knew what to do. He flew away from the spot where he was almost stuck and next to Daisy, who was looking for a spot to score on Rouge.

"Hey Daisy," Charmy chirped, fluttering around the princess rapidly. "I've got something for ya that'll really sting!"

"Oh, what is that suppose to- YAH!"

Daisy grabbed her arm as Charmy kept her distracted, just long enough for Blaze to slide between her legs and snag the ball.

"Charmy, let's move!" she ordered, and the bee was by her side within a heartbeat.

"Koopa! Boo! Don't let them try anything!" Daisy demanded, still shaking the pain from her arm. Boo and Koopa yelped and were taking off after Blaze and Charmy in no time.

Blaze and Charmy were passing among each other, trying to charge up the ball for Blaze to Mega Strike. She was prepared to give it the finishing kick when Koopa tripped into Blaze, sending them both to the dry ground.

"Sorry 'bout this, but we're crashing the party!" Boo cackled, stealing the ball away.

"I don't think so!" Charmy wailed, tackling Boo and freeing the ball. Koopa scrambled to retrieve it, but Blaze kicked it out of his reach and went after it herself. Boo pushed Charmy off of him and jumped on the ball, but Charmy shoved him off once again and passed it up to Blaze.

"Now, now, now!" he shrieked frantically. 'Now!"

"All right, sheesh," Blaze muttered, punting the ball upward in a magenta-colored aura, with the cat taking off after it.

"No! Aw man!" Daisy exclaimed, stomping her foot.

The feline princess rocketed upwards in her flames, making the Crystal Canyon shine even brighter than before. She spun around once, igniting the ball before her in plumes. Then, with a second spin, the ball went cascading downwards like a meteor before splitting into five. Petey, who wasn't about to let goals get by him so easily again, prepared himself.

The first ball was smacked away by one large, leafy hand, but the second whizzed over his left shoulder and slightly singed the net. Petey grunted and bashed the third one with his head, followed by grabbing the fourth one in a single palm. He held it for a few moments, only to quickly drop it and let out a screech of pain. As he ran around the goal trying to put the flame out on his hand, his huge head unintentionally blocked Blaze's last strike.

. . .

"Not too bad, especially considering Blaze is leading three to none," Amy observed, nodding in approval.

"Come on, pull it together, Daisy!" Waluigi yelled, shaking a fist.

"Even if Blaze is in the lead, she still doesn't look too good- I wonder what's wrong," Silver noticed, sounding worried.

"I just thought she was nervous about the match," Yoshi pointed out with a shrug. "Maybe it's still just that?"

"I'd hate to disagree, but I think it's not just that…" Sonic trailed a hint of worry in his voice as well.

. . .

"That was great, mate!" Marine cheered, running excitedly up to Blaze. Blaze, who was feeling a bit woozy, just smiled in return.

"Well, it was only two shots…"

"But three is still a right fine lead, mate!"

"Let's keep it up!" Charmy cheered, sharing a high five with Marine.

**AND MEANWHILE-**

Daisy was marching up to her sidekicks, shoulders positions in a frustrated fashion, hands balled up into fists, and seething with rage. When she got close enough to Boo and Koopa, she folded her arms, tapped her foot, and let out an annoyed groan. Boo and Koopa could only hold each other for support as she lashed out at them.

"No vile things have ever been said before this point…" moaned Koopa, his shell quivering when she was finished chewing them out.

"Why is she blaming us? !" Boo wanted to know. "Though this time, it could be credited as our fault…"

"I swear, if we lose this…" Daisy huffed, eyes closed and still clutching her fists. "I'd be so mad I'd-"

The ball rolled toward her, and with that, her eyes flashed open as she jumped into the air, fist raised high above her head.

"I'd be so mad I could do THIS!"

Her fist crashed into the center of the field, causing six large and sharp crystals to spout out of the ground, five of them striking Blaze, Marine, Charmy, and even Boo and Koopa. Everyone was left literally stunned by the move, Daisy simply standing back up. She walked away, a flower imprint left where she struck. She took the ball and careened down the field, ready to redeem herself.

"Like I said, when she gets competitive, she doesn't really think things through!" Boo complained, trying to move.

"Maybe this is more likely out of spite for our "bad performance"," Koopa pointed out.

"Hmph! Whatever…"

"How'd she do that?" Blaze wondered, completely bewildered.

"I dunno," Marine replied, standing up. "But it's wore off, mates! We'd better go on and get!"

"Hey, we're coming too!" cried Koopa, running after with Boo.

Daisy was completely oblivious to the fact that her Crystal Smash had worn off; she was only focused on making a goal and at least putting her on the board. Rouge saw her coming and got into position in case she need to spring.

"Here I come," Daisy said through gritted teeth, kicking the ball a little ways above her head.

Rouge crouched, smirking. "I'm ready for ya, princess."

Daisy returned the smirk, jumping into the air. Once again, she brought her fist down onto the ground and summoned a group of crystals out of the ground. Not only did this once again prevent Blaze's teams from doing anything, as they had just ran into Daisy's range, but stunning Rouge for the time being as well.

"Wh-What?" was all Rouge could get out before Daisy did a cartwheel, the side of her foot hitting the ball and directing it into the net with a satisfying whoosh.

. . .

"Twice? Twice? ! She used it TWICE? !" yelped Silver in disbelief.

"Woo hoo!" cheered Waluigi and Knuckles, only for Knuckles to get smacked by Amy.

"You know that was your girlfriend she scored on," she huffed afterward. Knuckles blushed and shook his fist madly.

"She is not my girlfriend! Besides, I bet on Daisy just for the snacks. And if Blaze wins, our team gets another point. For me, I'm in a win-win situation!"

"She may only have one goal, but she looked totally stylish while doing it," Waluigi said with a grin.

"You creep," Peach muttered with a head shake.

"Seriously, what would Luigi say about this?" Cream asked, arms folded. Waluigi just waved his hand.

"Hmph, I don't care what that wimp thinks- he's not even here, so ha!"

"That is odd- where's Luigi?" Toad wondered.

"I haven't seen Tails in a while either," added Junior. "Just in case anyone wanted to know."

Mario and Sonic exchanged a look as Yoshi scratched the back of his head and said, "Well, wherever they are, they're missing the match!"

. . .

"Yeah, go Daisy! Woo!" Daisy cheered, dancing back to her spot.

"We're still down by two," scoffed Boo.

"And we're intendin' to keep it that way!" Marine added firmly.

Blaze was oddly silent as the ball was rolled to her. She glanced up, noticing the rays of light ricocheting around again- that meant they were bound to strike again.

"Better be careful," Blaze said to herself, followed by a small cough. Daisy was running right towards her, so she passed to Charmy who passed to Marine and took off. Daisy was moving so fast she stumbled into Blaze while Boo followed after Marine.

"She's not getting another goal away from me!" Boo declared, trying to stay close.

"Not if I have something to say about it," Blaze said, overhearing the ghost. She rolled Daisy off of her and pushed herself back onto her feet. Daisy stood up as well, staring at Blaze with a confused look. "You might want to step back. Just a little warning."

Daisy had time to take two steps back, but that wasn't enough to avoid the wave of energy that Blaze suddenly emitted.

"YAAH!"

"WHOOOOA!"

Daisy was blown away as Blaze temporarily turned pink, along with a sea of flames spiraling around her. Eventually the flames spread out and covered the entire field, except for areas where her teammates were.

"AAAIIIII!" Boo wailed, right before he was about to reach Marine. The flames Blaze conjured up scorched him and Koopa, while Daisy was too dazed to even feel anything.

"Just what I needed right then!" Marine exclaimed, taking the shot as Petey once again ran around, trying to avoid the flames. Poor plant couldn't catch a break that day…

Especially since Marine scored on him twice.

. . .

"Petey, Petey, Petey," Peach groaned, almost hearing Petey screech in reply.

"Aw man…" Waluigi and Knuckles sighed, Knuckles quickly ceasing when he saw the looks he was receiving.

"That was amazing!" Cream cheered, jumping up and down. "I didn't know Blaze could do that!"

"Apparently so," Wario said, blinking.

"I can't help but fret over the fact that it looks like she's about to get sick at any moment," Silver said with a frown.

"I hope she doesn't you-know-what on anyone; we'd have another Rouge incident on our hands," muttered Shadow.

"This is serious!"

"She looks more green than pale now, too," Yoshi realized. "How come she's not saying anything…?"

"I think she wants to see it out to end," Sonic realized, leaning on the seat in front of him. "Hope she hangs in there…"

"Ooh! And if we're lucky, Daisy'll get really mad and we'll see a fight!" Junior said cheerfully, receiving disapproving looks in return. "What? What'd I say?"

. . .

Blaze was back to being purple after performing her Super Ability, though like Yoshi had pointed out, she was a bit green. Marine noticed while Charmy pointed it out, but Blaze assured them that it was probably nothing.

"I dunno, they might be right…" Daisy agreed, foot resting on the ball. "You want to call it quits?"

"No," Blaze said coldly, sending shivers up everyone's spines. "I didn't wait this long or come this far to back down now."

"Hmmm…" Daisy murmured, kicking the ball from foot to foot. "…all right. I'll respect that, but I'm not going easy."

She kicked the ball backward to Koopa, who then kicked it upwards to Boo, who was already rather far down the field. Marine and Charmy were quick to follow, but Blaze looked up again, frowned, and grabbed her stomach.

"Be careful! Don't get too close to the ball!" Blaze warned, trudging. "The lights are about to-"

"Yargh!" Boo yelped, being zapped by the sunlight and being taken out of the game temporarily. Marine and Charmy backed away for a few moments, until the beams were finished, before passing the ball among themselves.

"No, Boo!" Daisy cried, running as fast as she could toward the ball. "Koopa, help me out!"

"On it!" Koopa replied, pulling into his shell and shooting himself at Marine and Charmy. He managed to trip Charmy, plus knock the ball away from Marine and at Daisy. Together, Marine and Charmy had already charged it considerably, and by the time Koopa and Daisy worked the ball back the other way, Daisy would be able to Mega Strike.

Blaze tried to muster up some power to use Burning Blaze again, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. Sighing, she then removed her hands from her stomach and tried to kick the ball away from Daisy when she came by. However, Koopa prevented her from reaching Daisy, and Daisy lobbed the ball into the air.

She rose, surrounded by a teal-color aura, ready to perform her Mega Strike. Blue crystals composed themselves around her right arm, and once they were all in place, Daisy struck the ball as hard as she could, forcing it to divide into six. Rouge was ready at the goal, preparing to block as many as she could.

"Oh boy…"

She kicked the first one back, as it was aimed rather low at the net. The second and third balls both went right past her shoulders, while the fourth one she had to dive for. However, it just missed her fingers and rolled into the net. As she jumped back to her feet, Rouge missed blocking the fifth block, and with that, Rouge already knew Daisy had secured a lead. When the sixth ball came by, she jumped up and made hard contact with het foot, causing it to fly away from the net like a rocket.

"Hot stuff!" Daisy cheered, sticking a thumb to her hip until it sizzled. "Yeah…!"

. . .

"Yow," whistled Silver, slightly cringing.

"Hot stuff indeed!" chuckled Waluigi with a smirk.

"Still a creep, indeed," Peach huffed.

"Well, Daisy's not lying- she's on fire!" Junior exclaimed.

"As awesome as that is, Rouge got owned in that goal…" sighed Knuckles.

"Now Daisy's the one leading by one," Yoshi pointed out.

"If Blaze can just hang in there and make another goal, we'll be fine…" Sonic said while scratching his head.

"Yeah, that's all nice and dandy," grumbled Shadow. "But there's not that much time left…"

. . .

"Uh huh! DAISY!"

Daisy practically danced to the center of the field, her excitement almost shining as brightly as the crystals of the canyon. Boo and Koopa were in the middle of exchanging looks of relief.

"Thank goodness that we're in the lead now!" Koopa said with a smile. "If we keep it up, we won't be torn limb from limb!"

"I have nothing to tear off," Boo said confidently. "But staying ahead shouldn't be too much of a problem!"

"Blaze," Daisy then said, ceasing her celebration and walking up to her opponent. "I know you really want to make it to the end, but I dunno if you're going to last that long…"

"I'd hate to agree, but she's right mate," Marine added, frowning.

"Yeah, you look like you're going to blow chunks!" shrieked Charmy, sounding crazy.

"Charmy, please," Blaze groaned, rolling her eyes. "And for everyone else, the game's almost over. Let's just play our hardest and get this over with, okay? I'll be fine…"

"Well ya don't look fine-"

"Charmy, PLEASE."

Daisy glanced up at the clock, frowned, and nudged the ball over to Blaze. Blaze stopped the ball with her foot, staring at it, but it seemed like she wasn't entirely focused.

"I've gotta really play my best…" Blaze trailed, more to herself than anyone else. "I haven't really been doing well, so I need to redeem myself-"

"Come on, stop tryna pull a Tails," sighed Boo. "The clock's ticking!"

Blaze shrugged, grabbed her head, and kicked the ball. "Okay, fine...you try to change things up a little…"

Blaze took off through the canyon, racing down to Petey's goal. Marine and Charmy were at her sides, ready to defend her and the ball from the other team. Boo was chasing down Marine, Koopa was clinging to Charmy, and Daisy was so close to Blaze that she literally could be on her heels.

"Augh! Here it comes again!" screamed Charmy, breaking to a stop and causing Koopa to topple over him. The others then glanced up and saw the beams, and were also forced to watch as Charmy and Koopa were violently blasted away by the beam.

"….okay that seemed harsher than usual," gulped Boo.

"I think they get a little more painful towards the end of the match…" Daisy laughed nervously.

"Then why're we galloping 'round here, mates? I don't wanna get struck by the likes of that!" yelped Marine, suddenly running faster.

Blaze, Boo, and Daisy picked up the speed as well, trying their hardest the dodge the beams striking all spots around them. Daisy had a few close calls with her feet, but Marine was struck once again, along with Boo, who received the aftermath.

And now, it was only Daisy and Blaze.

Blaze felt her heart beating faster, and her head getting rather hot. But rather than stop on a dime, she continued to make her way to Petey, hearing the clock practically ticking in the back of her mind. Daisy was yelping and jumping over the reflected sunlight, wondering why they seemed more aimed at her than at Blaze.

"Okay, I'm almost there-"

"I'm still not going to go easy," Daisy interrupted, sliding between Blaze's legs and taking the ball for herself.

"And I told you," Blaze countered, taking the ball back and making Daisy stumbled. "I'm giving it all I got!"

And thus the girls started duking it out- Daisy would snag the ball from Blaze, Blaze would steal it back and try to shoot, but then Daisy would jump in the way and try to get the ball back the other way.

"SCREECH!"

"Come on, one of you better get the upper hand already!" Rouge groaned from the other side of the field.

Blaze and Daisy continued to furiously go foot to foot, each trying to prove that they were superior. However, one last, impeccable happening caused all that to change.

Daisy was almost hit by another beam.

The orange-clad princess dove to the ground, to avoid getting hit and getting removed from the game at the last second. Blaze hardly had a chance to register what had happened to Daisy and just bolted. Petey's goal got closer and closer, and Blaze prepared to take the fatal shot. Petey looked highly confident in the goal, even daring to smirk in spite of himself. Blaze took a deep breath, stopped just before the goal, and pulled her leg back to take the shot.

And right then, Blaze collapsed.

"What the-? !" Daisy managed to get out, standing back on her feet and running over. The rest of her sentence was cut off by the buzzer, causing her to glance around feeling very confused and uttering, "Huh? ! What? !"

The sidekicks all returned seconds later, and when they saw Blaze on the ground, they rushed over instantly. Daisy was already there, on her knees and next to her fellow princess.

"Blaze, are you all right?"

Blaze shook her head.

"…No, not really."

. . .

As everyone was getting Blaze off the field and trying to figure out just what had happened at the end of the match, two particular people were already in the lounge, sitting at the table, and not even worried that they were missing the match.

But one cared moreso than the other.

"I feel really bad about missing Daisy's match," Luigi mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "But, well, I didn't think I could take another match…"

"I know," Tails groaned as well, followed by taking a sip of his juice. "It's like the same thing over and over…"

"Yeah, and it's just more useless competition," grumbled Luigi as he traced circles on the table. He stopped and smiled at Tails, trying to brighten the conversation. "But hey, this is kinda nice. We can just hang out here until the match is over and then we can get ready for ours and get it over with!"

Tails nodded, responding with a half-smile. "Yeah…"

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what's up? How come you sound so down?"

"…well, it's a little hard to believe the tournament's almost over," Tails started, shrugging. Luigi gave him a look.

"That can't be it."

"It's not," Tails sighed. "I'm worried about our match. I don't even want to have ours…"

"Why not?"

Tails tugged at his yellow shirt in an uncomfortable fashion. "You know how much this means to both Mario and Sonic, right?"

"Of course. They're the ones that agreed to the darned thing!"

"Yeah, well…if Daisy wins, and we go next, and you win…" Tails hung his head. "Then Team Mario automatically wins the tournament, and Sonic won't get to have his match."

"…oh."

"He'd be crushed, and even though he would never admit it, it would be my fault because I lost…he finally gets a chance to redeem himself after the baseball game, and at something he's actually good at, only to have that taken away…I'd hate to do that to him!"

"Well, think the other way," Luigi started slowly, as if the same thought was nagging at the back of his mind. "If Blaze wins and we have our match, and you win, the vice versa happens! Mario takes a lot of pride in the game, and even though he is a good sport and all, I know he'd be slightly disappointed in me for blowing his chances…"

"Guess we both may be out of luck, huh?" Tails sighed, to which Luigi nodded.

"And I don't want you to let Sonic down-"

"But I don't want you to make Mario disappointed!"

"Wow," Luigi whistled. "We really can't win."

"Apparently not."

As they sat there for a few moments in silence, the door suddenly burst open, with the rest of the group all up in a buzz, with Mario, Daisy, Blaze, and Silver at the head, trying to get a very discombobulated Blaze into a seat. Tails and Luigi quickly jumped to their feet and helped out as well, setting Blaze down.

"Someone get a bucket!" Yoshi cried.

"Ugh, Miss Perfect's too lady-like to do _that_ in front of a crowd of people," Junior huffed with his arms folded.

"What happened? "Tails asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, what's going on?" added Luigi.

"Everyone really needs to calm down," Mario stated, eventually causing the commotion to cease. "Blaze is just sick."

"SICK? ! HOW SICK?" wailed Silver. Mario gave him a blank stare.

"We're talking the very serious disease of…the common cold."

"NOOOOO! THERE'S NO CURE FOR THAT!"

"Anyway," Mario continued. "She must've got the bug from Child and it decided now to take effect, with a bit of nausea as a side-effect of her nervousness for earlier."

"Did the match get finished?" Luigi questioned again, still wondering the outcome.

"Yeah- Daisy won," Knuckles replied, strolling up to the vending machine and knocking on it. "Looks like I'm owed a snack or two-"

Petey stomped over and gave Knuckles a threatening glare, followed by the echidna quickly backing away.

"Okay, okay, maybe I was too wrapped up in the snacks…but I'd still like at least a randomized pizza."

"Come on, we've got a little more serious issue over here!" Marine exclaimed, glancing at Blaze.

"Wait…if I won against a sick person….then did I really win at all?" Daisy asked, feeling perplexed. "I dunno if that was even fair…"

"It was fair," Blaze assured in a woozy tone. "I really did play as hard as I could, even in my condition…I'm fine with letting you have your win, really. You earned it…"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Blaze replied, turning to Marine. "And as for you, if you weren't on my team, I suppose I wouldn't have done as well as I did. So thanks, and I'm sorry I doubted you, Marine."

"Eh, not a problem, mate! I was happy to help!"

As Blaze rested her head back and smiled, Daisy smiled back and headed for the locker room. However, when she was halfway there, she glanced back over her shoulder.

"You're a lot more level-headed than I thought you were…maybe…I was wrong about you," Daisy stated, before continuing into the locker room.

"I'd never thought I'd hear her say something like that," Blaze chuckled. "And what can I say? Perhaps I was wrong about her as well."

"I told you she thinks things through when she's not competing," Boo said with a large grin.

"Yeah, I guess you were- AUUUGH!"

Blaze suddenly sprung out of her seat, plowing through the crowd, knocking several people over, and storming into the locker room after Daisy. Moments later, Daisy exited the room.

"Err… I think she needs a little privacy."

"I knew she wouldn't use the bucket," scoffed Junior as Yoshi kicked it.

"Okay, so Daisy won 4-5, Blaze is sick, the overall score is 4 to 3…whose match is up next?" Wario dared to ask, since no one else to going to bother to. As Luigi and Tails wearily started to speak up, the lights suddenly went out as red and blue spotlights danced everywhere.

"Ladies and gentlemen…"

"The moment you've all been waiting for…"

"The showdown of destiny…"

"The clash between the universe's two greatest heroes…"

Mario and Sonic both sudden jumped onto the table, striking poses as the red and blue lights flashed on them.

"US!"

"Dun dun DAH!"

"I give them points for trying," muttered Shadow.

"Your match is here already?" questioned Peach. "Wow, time has flown considerably."

"I know! I'm actually having fun!" laughed Amy.

"Can't imagine how Blaze feels," Waluigi huffed, glancing in the locker room's direction.

"But- wait- what- _huh-?"_ Luigi and Tails stammered, glancing at each other, then at Mario and Sonic and back again.

"We're goalies!" cheered Yoshi and Knuckles, slapping a high five.

"And I still demand a pizza," Knuckles stated afterward, only to have a slice thrown at the back of his head. "OKAY, WHO DID THAT? !"

"This is going to be way past cool!" Sonic cheered as he made his way to the whiteboard to update the stats.

However, there were no stats to be updated.

"…okay, who did it THIS time? !"

"Don't look at me- I learned my lesson," muttered Knuckles, still with the pizza on his head.

"Um…I think it might've been Blaze," Cream pointed out.

"Yeah, she must've brushed her hand across it as she made her way to the bathroom," added Toad.

"…do these stats mean NOTHING to you people? !"

"Take it easy, Sonic-"

Sonic took a few deep breaths before picking up the marker and starting to scrawl again. "Well, the next match will have to be postponed because of this, but whatever! I refuse to get mad, because my match is next, and my excitement for that is stronger than my desire to just snap the whiteboard in half and call it quits!"

"I'd pay to see that," chuckled Waluigi, high fiving Wario.

As Sonic redid his whiteboard ONCE AGAIN and Mario set off to prepare, Luigi and Tails were left wondering the same thing:

What the heck?

* * *

**I had to make the layout of this match a little more unique, since I didn't want to rely on previous tactics or use anything that I'm saving for the last two matches...although I really dunno where I came up with that for Blaze. :P (Sorry Blaze!)**

**Next up is Mario and Sonic's match! YAY! It's gonna be awesome and I can't wait! *starts writing* **

**(And I know a few people really wanna see Luigi and Tails' match, but I ask, just be patient for a little bit longer...)**


	10. The Clash of the Heroes

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!

The Clash of the Heroes

_Match 8: Super Mario vs Sonic the Hedgehog_  
_Goalies: Yoshi and Knuckles the Echidna_  
_Stadium: Stormship Stadium_  
_Current Score: Mario- 4, Sonic-3_

"Okay…I'm glad were not going yet and all, but did we really get skipped?" Tails muttered, standing in the lounge and watching over Stormship Stadium. Luigi was also standing next to him, though he seemed slightly more peppy that Tails did.

"Apparently Mario and Sonic were a bit overanxious…"

"Yeah, just a bit."

"Well, look on the Brightside," Luigi suggested, turning to Tails. "Our problem is their problem now! So if one or the other loses, it won't be our fault. And we might not even get to play!"

"How is that the Brightside?"

"Err…sorry."

"It's fine. But I guess we should down to the Stadium before we miss all the action!"

"Race you!" Luigi exclaimed, running off.

Tails smirked and instantly flew toward the door. "Ha, you don't stance a chance!"

. . .

The skies surrounding the Stormship Stadium were a frightening purple, which seemed to highlight the importance of the match. A fusion of fighters, a battle of brawlers, a face-off between champions…

Or just simply a clash of heroes.

The winds blew around the area, giving the dreaded sense of an impending storm. The sidekicks were already standing stoically on the stadium, with Toad and Shy Guy on one side, and Mighty and Hammer Bro. on the other.

"Looks like you decided to be on Sonic's team after all, huh?" Mighty chuckled to Hammer Bro., who simply scratched his head.

"Yeah, I figured it would be fun! Besides…" he put on a smirk. "It'll be two times the offensive power!"

"Well, just be sure you can keep up!"

"Heh, I think it'll be you that needs to stay alert!"

"Oh, boy…" Shy Guy groaned as Toad looked around nervously. Shy Guy didn't really pay much attention to Toad until Toad started dancing in an uncomfortable fashion. "Okay dude, did you forget to go to the bathroom before you suited up or something?"

"No," Toad snapped back, quickly reverting to being nervous. "Just pre-game jitters, is all…"

"Well if you don't calm down, you'll make yourself sick! Don't wanna end up like Blaze, do ya?"

"N-No…"

"Oh, stop it, Shy Guy!" Yoshi called from the goal. "You're just making him feel worse! He needs to be confident, not thinking he needs medicine!"

"Ugh, when do we get this thing started?" Knuckles groaned, stretching in the other goal. "After my humiliating loss, I need to show that I still have some worth in this game, whatever you prefer to call it…"

Yoshi folded his arms. "With that talk, you're going to end up like Waluigi."

Before any other small spouts could crop up between the sidekicks and goalies, Mario's alternative rock theme broke through the sound of the roaring winds. The hero in red dropped down from the blimp, free-falling before boldly landing on the ground, throwing his head back and letting out a triumphant "Come on!" to his opponent.

Except, he just realized his opponent was missing in action.

"Hey, where's Sonic? !" Mario yelped, to which Yoshi, Toad, Hammer Bro., Shy Guy, Knuckles, and Mighty all shrugged.

Then, as if it were there to answer all their questions, an instrumental version of Endless Possibility played out, and a blue streak was seen careening from a different blimp.

Mario put on a blank face.

"YEEEEEE-AAAAAHHHH!"

Sonic did three somersaults before sticking the landing, giving a thumbs up, and saying "Bring it on!"

"Nice of you to drop in," Mario said dryly. Sonic shot back a grin and threw his hands in the air.

"That was so cool! If I win, can I jump out of the blimp again? Man, what a rush!"

Mario just sighed and rested his head in his palm. The ball was dropped moments later, and the two quickly snapped into game mode.

. . .

"Ooh, here it is! It's starting!" squealed Amy, looking like she was getting ready to explode.

"It should prove interesting for sure," Peach said with her arms folded.

"C'mon, Sonic! Show him what you're made of!" Silver cheered.

"I dunno who I want to win- I despise them both," complained Waluigi.

"I'm sure Sonic will do a great job," Cream giggled. "He's really good!"

"Mario better win so we can call it quits here and now," sighed Junior, though smiled a little as he watched Cream cheer.

"I almost agree with the half-pint," Rouge stated with her hands behind her head. "Though I know Sonic'll win."

"SCREECH!"

"I'm sure Mario will pull through," said Shadow, looking pretty indifferent. "Sonic's overconfidence will eat him alive."

"Just for you saying that, I hope Sonic wins," Wario sneered, giving Shadow a devious look. Shadow returned that with one that lacked interest.

"You really don't want me to punch you, trust me."

"Mario HAS to win!" Daisy exclaimed, already getting riled up and jumping around. "There's no way he'd give in to Sonic, eh Blaze?"

Blaze retorted by sticking her face into a paper bag.

"Ugh, this is almost like the baseball game," Luigi groaned, slightly shaking. "If Mario wins, it's all over, but if Sonic wins-"

"We're given a second chance," Tails finished with the same tone.

. . .

As soon as the ball was dropped, Mario and Sonic both lunged for the ball, but when they did, the entire field tilted dangerously to the left, forcing everyone to tumble in that direction.

"What's going on?" Sonic wanted to know, rolling almost as fast as the ball was.

"That's one of this stadium's gimmicks," Hammer Bro. tried to explain. "It tilts to one side in favor of one side, and the bigger the difference in the score, the sharper the tilt!"

"And what else is there?" Mighty dared to ask, only to hear the sickening sound of thunder explode in the background.

. . .

"LIGHTNING! ?"

"Aw, Tails…"

"Here we go again."

. . .

Anyway, Mario managed to end up next to the ball and quickly struggled to his feet to gain control of it. The stadium was currently tilted in his favor, though running down a hill was just as hard as running up one.

"If I can just get this ball to roll right past Knuckles-"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Mighty scoffed, now running alongside Mario. "It'll take some serious skill to get a ball past Knuckles. If you thought Petey was bad…"

Mario made a face and closed in on the echidna. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Don't say I didn't warn ya," Mighty replied, kicking the ball out of Mario's possession to Hammer Bro.

"Aw, I hate going upwards," Hammer Bro. complained, struggling to get himself and the ball to the higher end of the tilt. Shy Guy proceeded to make this twice as difficult as he fought his way to steal the ball.

"Dude, lay off!"

"Sorry, just doing my job!"

"C'mon, we went to high school together! Cut me a little slack!"

"You used to dunk my head in a toilet."

"Heh heh, we were so clueless back then-"

"It ended up in the yearbook!"

Shy Guy then ducked down, causing Hammer Bro. to trip and start to fall back down the tilt, but without the ball. Shy Guy laughed manically as he followed Hammer Bro., carefully guiding the ball on his way back down.

"Mind if I borrow this?" Sonic asked, sprinting by Shy Guy and taking the ball with him.

"HEY!"

"After him!" Mario ordered, however, all sidekicks took off after Sonic.

Sonic cruised up the hill with less of a problem than the others, thanks to his speed, but when the stadium tilt the other way, his speed was (literally) his downfall.

"YAAAH!"

"Augh! Crazy hedgehog and a metallic ball coming right for me!" Yoshi shouted, suddenly running around in circles in his goal.

"Yoshi, look alive!" demanded Mario.

"How much more alive do you want me to be? !"

"You know what I mean!"

Sonic went veering off to the left after collapsing into ball form, but the ball continued to roll straight at Yoshi. Yoshi eventually stopped having a panic attack and stood his ground…only to simply stick his foot out and stop the ball harmlessly.

"Well that was anticlimactic."

"You're telling me," grunted a smoking Sonic, who was laying on the ground after making a sharp crash with the electric fence.

Yoshi punted it out of his goal and back to Mario, who accepted it gratefully and ran away with it. Mighty and Hammer Bro. threw themselves at Mario, but the plumber wasn't stopping for anything.

Except for lightning.

Mario wasn't paying any attention to the sky; he was too focused on getting to Knuckles' goal. The sky lit up in a purple shock, the very same shock cascading down and striking the stadium. Mighty and Toad stopped in their tracks, a wall of electricity suddenly jetting in front of them. Shy Guy ended up tripping into one, receiving a painful jolt, along with Mario.

"ACK!"

The sudden shock caused Mario to hit the ball in the wrong direction and send it spiraling back down to Yoshi's side. Sonic, still on the lower end of the field, sprang up from the ground and ran right for the ball. When it was just about to pass over his head, Sonic stuck his leg out, did a backflip, and made hard contact with the ball. The ball went soaring once again, this time right after Yoshi. Yoshi had no idea where the ball was aimed so he spread out his arms and hoped for the best.

Unfortunately for him, the ball flew under his right arm and thudded into the net.

. . .

"Yeah!" Amy instantly cheered, throwing her arms up and hitting Peach and a Birdo in the process. "I knew he'd get the first goal, naturally!"

"Oh whatever," scoffed Waluigi. "It was a lucky shot. He should be glad an opportunity like that was handed to him."

"All that tilting is making my head spin!" groaned Cream, eyes rolling as she did so.

"I'm almost more worried about the lightning," Luigi stated, sneaking a glance at Tails who was trying to calm himself down.

"That was _terrible!"_

. . .

Mario trudged back to the middle of the field, where Sonic was busting out his best dance moves.

"Do you have to do that; you're embarrassing people," Shy Guy stated while Sonic was in the middle of the worm.

"I do have to agree; save it until after you win," Mighty said with a nervous chuckle.

"Like that'll happen!" Yoshi shouted from the goal.

"I'm bored over here!" Knuckles called while tapping his foot.

"Okay, okay," Sonic stated, jumping back to his feet. "Everything Sonic does is wrong, understood!"

"Not necessarily…" Hammer Bro. trailed with a shrug.

"I can think of a few times-"

"No one asked you Knuckles!" "Yeah, you're not one to talk!"

"Shut up!"

"Well, while everyone's busy yelling, I'll just take the ball and go then," Mario said calmly, running past the other team once the ball rolled into his possession. Everyone else stopped their heated debate over nothing and chased after him.

The field tilted in Mario's favor, considering that Sonic had made the last goal, making Sonic's team to have a harder time keeping up with him. Mario actually made it down to Knuckles in record time, and made a pretty impressive shot.

Too bad Knuckles easily lifted a hand and stopped the ball in its tracks.

"Aw come on!"

"Gotta try harder than that!" Knuckles teased, rolling the ball back into play. Mario darted to the side and intercepted it again, kicking it once again. Knuckles already knew where the ball was headed, and hardly had to move to block it again.

"That's…impossible!" Mario exclaimed, watching his shot resting in the hands of Knuckles.

"What, did you think they were lying about how good I am?" Knuckles responded, giving the ball a hearty throw over Mario's head. Hammer Bro. skidded in out of nowhere and retrieved it, taking off up the tilt as well.

"A little backup, anyone?" Hammer Bro. wheezed, his running speed running out quite quickly.

"Over here, then!" Mighty called, running up by him. Hammer Bro. passed, Mighty retrieved, but Toad appeared out of nowhere and managed to take it back.

"Ha ha!" he cheered, until the tilt reversed itself. "Am man…"

"I hate this place!" Shy Guy shouted as he rolled toward Yoshi's goal.

"I like it- it makes it hard to stay still," Sonic laughed, rushing by Toad and reclaiming the ball for his team.

"You shouldn't be staying still anyway!" Mario exclaimed, jumping in front of him and striking the ball. It started to roll between Sonic's legs, but Sonic jumped back and bashed the ball forward.

"Dude, you know me- I can't sit still for more than three minutes!"

Mario jumped in front of the ball ran with it once again. "Hmm, that IS true…"

Mario passed the Shy Guy, who had finally stopped rolled and was ahead of Mario on his way back to the goal. This was assisted by the fact the stadium tilted in their favor once more, making it easier to get an angle on Knuckles.

The hard part would be actually getting it _past_ Knuckles.

Shy Guy stopped for a moment and pondered this over. He then came up with a plan, and quite a genius one at that.

"Hey Knuckles, someone is trying to steal the Master Emerald!"

"WHAT? !" Knuckles roared, quickly turning in the direction Shy Guy pointed. "I TOLD them that playing sports was a stupid idea-"

Poomph.

"YEAH!" Shy Guy cheered, jumping up and down like a madman.

"Looks who's screwing up now!" Sonic huffed, but Knuckles was too busy searching for his Master Emerald culprit.

. . .

"Oh, Knuckie…" Rouge groaned, a red handprint very evident on her forehead.

"I told you Sonic was going to lose," Shadow said proudly.

"The score is tied, genius," Wario grunted.

"It's only a matter of time before the game tilts in Mario's favor."

"That was the worst pun you could've possibly chosen," Daisy scoffed, shaking her head.

"I'm more surprised that he made a joke!" Silver exclaimed, suddenly feeling faint. Shadow just shrugged.

. . .

"At least MY miss was justified! I knew you were gullible, but how could you possibly fall for THAT? !" Sonic continued yelling at Knuckles. "The Master Emerald's not even in this world!"

"Okay, this has to be double-reverse karma or something…" Knuckles trailed, looking awfully sheepish.

"That was too easy," chuckled Shy Guy to himself.

"I don't know what's worse- your dirty trick, or the fact Knuckles fell for it," grumbled Toad.

"Hey, it got us a point! We gotta go what we gotta do! Besides, there's plenty more where that came from! He'll fall for anything!"

"I can hear you!" Knuckles called, clearly irritated.

"Sigh…whatever, we'll come back from that," Sonic assured, retrieving the ball. "This match is only getting started!"

With blazing speed, Sonic rocketed off, the ground beneath him turning in his favor. Hammer Bro. and Mighty defended him at the sides. Toad tried to get past Mighty while Shy Guy fought with Hammer Bro. to get closer to Sonic.

Mario drove in straight from the middle, sliding in between Sonic's legs and stealing the ball away. The red plumber then swept back to his feet and ran for Knuckles on the higher end.

"Hey! What're you- AUUGH!"

Sonic whirled around the get the ball back, only to be stopped by a violent bolt of lightning. Mario, as he knew the stadium a lot better than Sonic did, knew just where the lighting was going to strike and swerved around it. It was almost hypnotizing, the way Mario wove his way through the strikes and the glow they emitted afterwards.

"I've got your back, Mario!" Shy Guy called, leaping over the surges of electricity and trailing behind Mario.

"Great! …but where's Toad?"

**Meanwhile-**

"Oh, the agony!" Toad wailed, being thoroughly shocked by a lightning bolt.

**Back with Mario-**

"I see…"

Mario continued his way to Knuckles, ready to score on the echidna once and for all. He aimed, and Knuckles easily blocked.

"Hey, porcupine," Shy Guy called, leaning on the goal post as Knuckles rolled the ball out.

"Don't make me have to yell at you."

"Easy, I just wanted to say that the vending machine is in danger this time."

"Ha, I'm not falling for it twice," Knuckles grunted, positioning his heels in the net.

Shy Guy sighed and gestured toward the lounge, watching down on them from above. "Okay, but when you walk in there and the thing's all dented up, don't say I didn't warn you."

"There is no one banging the thing up!" Knuckles shouted back, though he couldn't help but take his eyes off of Mario for a quick second just to make sure.

Poomph.

"AAAARRRGH!"

. . .

"Pathetic," spat Waluigi, not amused at all.

"I was able to win my match and I was unconscious for most of it," Shadow scoffed. "But then again, I AM the ultimate, so it's no surprise-"

Wario threw a can at Shadow's head, and it took all of Shadow's ultimate strength just to resist getting him back.

"Where's your spirit now, Amy?" Peach questioned with a smirk. Amy, though obviously disappointed, didn't dare show it.

"Sonic's not going to lose…"

"Can you imagine how depressed he'd be if he lost again?" Junior said, almost with a pleased smile. "I wasn't there to see it last time, but when my dad told the story, I couldn't stop laughing!"

"You dad wasn't there either," Cream pointed out.

"Yeah, but word gets around fast…"

. . .

"I have no words," Sonic said dully, as Mario slid across the ground on his knees and pumped his fists into the air.

"I blame the vending machine!" Knuckles wailed, falling to the ground and shaking his fists to the sky.

The field now tilted sharply in Mario's favor, making it even harder for Sonic to get the ball to Yoshi. It rolled to Sonic, and Mario, Shy Guy, and Toad all ran straight at him. Sonic lobbed the ball into the air and jumped up after it, causing the three members of Mario's team to crash into each other. Sonic then kicked the ball down to Hammer Bro., who steadily worked his way up the tilt. When he noticed Toad running up to him out of the corner of his eye, he passed to Mighty, who zoomed up the tilt carefully.

"Hey, how's it going?" Shy Guy asked, creeping up on Mighty. Mighty just kept his focus on the ball, rather than on the wily Shy Guy who was catching up with him.

"Oh, not up for small talk, huh?" Shy Guy started circling Mighty. "That's okay, I know a great way to kick off a conversation!"

He slammed his foot into the ball, sending it flying out of Mighty's possession and into Toad's. Mighty tripped upon realizing what was going on. However, Hammer Bro. was quick to retrieve it from Toad and shot at Yoshi from where he was. Yoshi stuck his tongue out, snatched up the ball, and spat it back to Shy Guy.

"Yay, I stopped it!" Yoshi cheered.

"Anyone got any ball sanitizer?" groaned Hammer Bro.

Shy Guy ran down the tilt, ready to trick Knuckles and make another goal for the team. Mighty was chasing him down, and even dared to jump at Shy Guy's legs.

"That has got to cheating!" Shy Guy yelled as he and Mighty started rolling down.

"Yeah, if that is, then so is taunting the goalie!" barked Mighty. The two of them ended up rolling into an electric burst, each of them receiving a jolt. Toad approached the ball and passed it to Mario, but Hammer Bro. jumped in the way and intercepted the pass.

"Not today!" Hammer Bro. cried, shooting toward Yoshi again.

"Not today is right!" Mario grumbled, springing into the air, and kicking the ball right back. Hammer Bro. let out a wail as it soared over his head and over to the still sparking Shy Guy and Mighty. Shy Guy saw the ball and scrambled up- Mighty had received most of the shock anyway. He followed it until it hit the ground, seizing it for himself.

"Okay, now that that's all over-"

"The only thing that's over…" Sonic trailed, eyes closed and slowly making his way toward Shy Guy. "…is playtime!"

"Shy Guy just scoffed and nudged the ball down the hill. "Oh really? How so?"

"Eh, with nothing special," Sonic replied casually.

His eyes then shot open, revealing that they had darkened to a ruby red. Shy Guy jumped back in surprise and could only watch as Sonic suddenly burst into golden flames.

"What…what's wrong with you? !" Shy Guy cried hysterically.

"There's nothing wrong- I've never felt better!"

Super Sonic then plowed straight into Shy Guy, knocking him quite a distance away. He gained the ball and ascended up the tilt, knocking over Toad and sending Mario spinning. Mighty just whistled as Hammer Bro. jumped up and down and pumped his fists.

Sonic flew his way to Yoshi, with the dinosaur now shaking at the knees.

"Oh, this can't end well-"

Sonic did a 360 spin and shot the ball at the net at the speed of light. Yoshi yelped and jumped clear out of the way, not even caring that the ball thudded into the net.

He was just happy that all of his body parts were still intact.

. . .

"Now that's what I call a Super Ability," Amy giggled.

"I'll give him points for clever use," Daisy said with a shrug.

"The score is now 2-2…" Luigi pointed out.

"There's still quite a bit of time in the match though…" Tails added.

"Is it just me…or is something…wrong?" Blaze wondered, still gripping her paper bag.

"I think it's just you, because the match is going quite smoothly," Junior stated with a huff.

"I know…that's the problem. It's almost like…like…"

"Like what?" wondered Peach, but Blaze's head went into the bag once again and prevented another response.

. . .

"Hmm, seems were pretty evenly matched, huh?" Sonic told Mario as his fur and eye color returned to normal. "I like transforming without the Emeralds! Shame that I'm not as strong as I could be, though."

"We are pretty close in skill," Mario noticed, waiting for the ball to be rolled to him. "I just hope it doesn't keep going like this…"

"You kiddin'?" Sonic said with a wink. "This is finally getting interesting!"

Mario then took the ball being rolled into his possession and kicked it backwards to Shy Guy. As he ran upwards, the hedgehog was on the Shy Guy instantly, furiously kicking and showing no mercy. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Shy Guy had managed to pass off the ball to Toad, but Sonic didn't catch it with his blind kicking. It wasn't until Shy Guy acquired a smirk on his face that Sonic noticed something was wrong.

"Aw, rings…" he uttered, shoving Shy Guy to the ground and sprinting after the ball. Shy Guy was left moaning on the ground.

"Toad! Pass to me, and I'll make it quick!" Mario ordered, halfway to Knuckles.

"Here it comes!" Toad shouted, making the pass. Hammer Bro. and Mighty both jumped to intercept, but Mario reached it far before they did.

"Here we go!" Mario cried, Hammer Bro. and Mighty quickly backing up as he started to grow. "Super Mario time!"

Mario threw a fist into the air as he grew who knew how many times his size, towering greatly over the players and the field.

"Hey, he can't do that without a mushroom!" sonic exclaimed, suddenly stopping to gawk.

"He can for the same reason as to why you can transform without emeralds," interrupted Shy Guy. Sonic looked thoughtful.

"I guess you have a point…"

Super Mario tore down the field, lighting striking him but glancing off like raindrops. Hammer Bro. and Might ran around frantically, avoiding being squashed by big brown boots, and even Toad was scrambling to get out of the way. Mario reached Knuckles fairly quickly, the echidna standing like a stoic brick wall in the goal.

"I refuse to let anymore get by me…" he uttered to himself. "My honor will be tarnished if I let such a thing happen…"

Mario stepped on Knuckles and casually kicked the ball into the net.

. . .

"Knuckles can't catch a break, can he?" sighed Rouge.

"He's going to be so mad when he loses," Daisy said airily, casually stretching in the background.

"It's 2-3 Mario's favor, right?" Luigi asked, twiddling his thumbs.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" replied Amy. Luigi glanced at the ground and shrugged.

"Just making sure…"

. . .

"…that's another one for Mario!" Mario cheered, jumping down the field crazily. Sonic just folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, let's just keep this thing going!"

"Someone seems a little quick to get back to the action," Shy Guy scoffed. Sonic simply winked and whisked off with the ball.

"Yeah, I usually am."

He sprinted up the field, tilted against his favor. Lightning rained down like hail, but Sonic wove around it like no problem.

"Mighty! Hammer Bro.! Get up here!" Sonic barked, quickly facing backwards and passing to Mighty. Might accepted the pass instantly, but Shy Guy slid in and stole the ball.

"Heh heh heh…" Shy Guy snickered, only to be tackled down by Mighty.

"No one steals from me!" he roared.

Hammer Bro. skipped over to the group, retrieved the ball, and continued on his merry way.

"Cheap!" Shy Guy yelled, shoving Mighty off and running after Hammer Bro. Ha

Hammer Bro. hurried to catch up with Sonic, passing it amongst themselves until it charged to white. Mario cringed and hurried to steal the ball, but Sonic, naturally was too fast for him. He lobbed the ball upwards, following it in a cobalt blue aura.

Yoshi noticeably blanched in his goal.

Once Sonic peaked his jump, he curled up into a ball and rapidly spun in place, gaining some serious speed as he did so. Eventually, even though it only took a few seconds, Sonic jetted his foot out and made contact with the ball. It shot downwards, splitting into six which formed a perfect circle in the air. Yoshi realized this and instantly panicked.

"How am I supposed to block all those if they're moving at the same speed? !" he wailed, reacting appropriately.

"Look out, Yoshi!" Mario shouted, grabbing his hat.

"At least block one!" yelled Shy Guy.

However, Yoshi didn't know which _one_ to block, and ended up being forced to shield his face from the onslaught. Three of them crashed right into the net, while the other three hit the ground and then bounced into the net. Yoshi dared to open an eye and nearly fainted at the sight.

. . .

"That's completely ridiculous!" howled Waluigi, throwing his arms in the air and shaking them crazily.

"I think I love him even more," sighed Amy, swooning over her hero.

"So…8-3?" Tails calculated, laughing nervously.

"Outrageous!" shouted Junior and Daisy, grabbing bystanders' popcorn and hurling it at the field.

"Oh, calm down, Mario will totally catch up," declared Shadow, only to be smacked by Amy.

"Why would you say that? !"

"Just look at Mario's expression! He's not about to take that lying down!"

. . .

"G-G-G-GAME BREAKER!" howled Shy Guy, tackling Sonic to the ground once he returned from his Mega Strike. Sonic yelped as he was forced to the ground, having his body punched, scratched, and yanked by a weird guy in a robe and mask.

"Get this thing off me!" he demanded.

It took the combined force of Mighty, Hammer Bro., Knuckles, and Mario to pry Shy Guy off.

"You won't get away with this! I swear it!" Shy Guy continued to shout, kicking his legs and struggling to get free.

"Please tell me he will get a grip," Toad whimpered. "He's starting to scare me…"

"A good smack across the face outta do it," suggested Mighty, revving up his hand.

"Don't even think about it, armadillo!"

Mighty shrugged as the rest of the sidekicks returned to their positions. Mario reluctantly let go of Shy Guy, who surprisingly didn't throw himself back at Sonic. The plumber then marched up to the hedgehog, placing his foot on the ball.

"Impressive, I'll admit…" Mario trailed, getting Sonic to grin.

"I surprised myself, actually."

"But this match is far from over!"

"And I'm glad to hear that!"

Mario passed to Toad to start their play, feeling the ground beneath them tilt in Sonic's favor. Shy Guy was on the prowl, glaring and hissing and anyone who dared to step anywhere near him.

Sonic made extra sure to avoid him at all costs.

Anyway, Mario and Toad passed among each other, getting the ball charged up. It was the only way they could catch up to Sonic, and they couldn't afford to lose another goal to them.

Mario couldn't afford to lose, period.

The ball eventually charged to white, and Mario pulled his leg back to lob it in the air, but Mighty rushed in so fast and stole it that Mario missed it, kicked anyway, flipped in the air, and landed on his back.

"What the…?"

"I'm so tired of that team of animals!" Shy Guy wailed, running after Mighty.

"I take offense!" cried Hammer Bro., running after him.

"Can we have a different Shy Guy next season?" Toad asked, apparently getting tired of Shy Guy's outbursts.

"Quick!" yelled Mighty, passing to Sonic. Shy Guy, however, dove in front of the ball, getting hit in the stomach with it.

"It was totally worth it," Shy Guy wheezed.

Sonic proceeded to jump over Shy Guy to get the ball, but Toad swooped in at the last moment and passed it to Mario. Mario proceeded to lob the ball upwards, but Hammer Bro. threw himself on top of it and passed to Mighty. Mario scowled and jumped after them, but Sonic slid in front of him and tripped him.

"Really? !"

"Sorry- got caught up in the moment…"

Mighty started running to Yoshi, who was shuffling around like crazy and tried to look intimidating. The armadillo went in for the kick, but, of course, Shy Guy cartwheeled in front of him and stopped him before he could do so. Mighty roared as Shy Guy made off with it, who passed to Toad when he noticed Hammer Bro. coming up on his right. Toad retrieved it, and hurried to Mario, as he was still trying to get off the ground.

"Heads up, Mario!" Toad cried, spin-kicking the ball toward Mario. Mario gave Sonic a light shove ("Ow! My eye!") and jumped up to greet the ball with his foot. Still glowing white at this point, it rocketed upwards, with Mario following after it in a blazing red glow. Sonic just watched as he ascended, knowing things were about to get hot.

Mario's eyes lit up in fire as he spun around in slow motion, his foot slowly making contact with the ball.

It was as if time speed up again, and the ball burst into flames as it split into six, descending towards Knuckles like fiery meteors- literally. Knuckles adjusted his position, a low growl forming in his throat. His raised his giant palms instantly, catching two of the balls on the spot and dousing their fires. Knuckles smirked a bit at this, but instantly frowned when the other four clonked him on the head, ricocheted off, and made contact with the net.

Mario landed back on the ground, looking a bit sheepish.

"Um…unintentional payback?"

Sonic fainted anime style.

. . .

"I've never seen a knucklehead with such a dire need for a helmet," snarked Shadow, causing Rouge fume.

"At least Mario has caught up rather impressively. 8-7, nice," Peach stated, clasping her hands together.

"Two more points and we win!" cheered Junior.

"Unless Sonic keeps his lead," Cream pointed out, making Junior's face deflate.

"It's gonna be close…" trailed Blaze, Petey screeching next to her afterward.

. . .

As Mario celebrated once again by spinning around excitedly, Sonic began stretching, making sure his legs were in top form. He then started stretching his back, grinning at Mario as he did so.

"Heh, thanks for keeping it interesting," he chuckled. Mario folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, you seem pretty at ease this time around," Mario noticed. Sonic shrugged, scooping the ball up with his foot and bouncing it on his knee.

"Well, this time there's not as much pressure on me, so I can afford to be calm," Sonic explained. "Even if you get ahead, I'll be fine, simply because it's not as overwhelming…remember how it all rested on me to make that last hit, even though everyone knew I was bound to fail?"

"Yes," Mario replied, shivering. "Definitely an intense moment. Especially since I was pitching…"

Sonic cringed, as if remembering was painful. "I managed to hit it. That was a shock within itself. But despite the fact that I used my Special Swing, despite the fact I got Tails home, and despite the fact I reached home myself…I still got out."

"You did look pretty crushed…" Mario uttered. Sonic finally smiled and waved it off.

"Yeah, but it wasn't a big deal. We lost, but everything turned out okay! And this time," Sonic began, kicking the ball into the air. "If I lose, then I can lose without feeling like I could've done better!"

The ball began to come back down, and Sonic jumped up and performed a 360 kick on it, sending it flying until it smacked into the tilted stage. Mighty was ready to retrieve the ball, but Shy Guy, in top form as always, beat Mighty to the punch and made off with. Mighty froze in midair, eyes following the crazed Shy Guy.

"…is he on caffeine? !"

Shy Guy let out a crazed cackle, running down the stage tilted in his favor. Sonic clenched his fist and ran toward Shy Guy, but a mushroom suddenly appeared in front of him, causing him to crash into it and careen backwards.

"What in the name of Chaos…?"

"Sorry, Sonic…" Toad trailed, nervously scratching the back of his head.

Shy Guy continued tearing down the arena, pretending like lightning wasn't a daunting threat above him. He was getting closer to Knuckles, so Hammer Bro. hurled a hammer to stop him. Shy Guy smirked and ducked, however, causing the hammer to clonk Toad in the head instead.

"Eh, good try, Hammer Bro…" Knuckles muttered, feeling suddenly nervous as Shy Guy approached him.

"Ready for this one, Knuckles?"

"As long as it doesn't hit me in the head."

Shy Guy laughed and began to kick, Knuckles quickly leaning in the direction Shy Guy was about to shoot. However, Shy Guy passed to Mario within the blink of an eye, and Mario slammed it into Knuckles' net.

. . .

"I thought Knuckles was a good goalie?" Luigi asked, surprisingly gob smacked.

"He is- that darned Shy Guy is messing him up!" complained Amy.

"Score's tied again," added Wario, reading a newspaper and pretending not to be interested.

"Time's getting a little low as well," Silver threw in, glancing at the clock displaying a rather forgiving minute and thirty seconds.

"Think we'll go into overtime?" asked Daisy, to which Tails solemnly shook his head.

"Doubt it."

. . .

Shy Guy celebrated more than Mario did, even though the plumber had just tied up the game again. Sonic casually kicked around the ball, appearing even more undeterred than before. However, Mario thought a little too deeply into it, for Sonic had passed to Mighty and was running down the field, which wasn't titled at all now.

"Don't let them score!" Mario demanded, to which Shy Guy rolled his eyes.

"Like I'm really going to let that happen…"

Mighty cruised down the field, but Toad caught up with him and began kicking at the ball. Mighty could've blocked Toad very well, if it wasn't for the lightning that chose then to strike.

"Great," was all Mighty uttered before several volts of electricity crashed down on him and Toad, sending them both flying. The ball was left unattended, so Hammer Bro. snatched it and ran towards Yoshi.

"Finally, I'm back in the game!" the dinosaur sighed, preparing himself.

Hammer Bro. made a pretty daring kick, which would've sank into the net if Yoshi hadn't caught it with his tongue. Hammer Bro. recoiled a little, but began to feel a little woozy when Yoshi swallowed it and produced an egg. Yoshi then picked the egg up, aimed it at Mario and Shy Guy, and chucked it over to them.

Sonic ran to intercept the egg, which he knew he could easily do, but Shy Guy had anticipated this and had already jumped for the egg before Sonic could see it coming. Shy Guy nudged it out of the air with his head just as the tip of Sonic's foot brushed against it.

"No!" Sonic shouted, falling to the ground as the ball hatched as Mario retrieved it. Knuckles was more determined than ever not to let a ball get past him, but his hopes flew south for the winter when Mario activated his super ability once more, squashing the echidna and rolling the ball into the net.

. . .

"Oh, the agony!" Silver wailed, pounding his fist against his chair.

"Knuckles is taking quite the beating out there, isn't he?" Peach realized, frowning a bit.

"I'll say- getting stepped on, having his head turned into a one-of-a-kind target, and all that confusion _must_ be taking a toll," replied Shadow. "On the other hand, good to see Mario pulling into the lead."

"You're terrible, I hope you know that," huffed Silver, recovering from his latest outburst.

"I'm not terrible. I am the-"

"Someone's gonna strangle you if you say "ultimate"," growled Silver, Daisy, Waluigi, Rouge, and Wario.

Shadow noticeably became silent after that.

"Forty-five seconds…" Cream trailed drearily. "I hope Mr. Sonic can pull off a miracle."

"Hmph. The loser usually does, doesn't he?" grunted Junior, arms folded and pouting.

. . .

Sonic still refused to say anything witty, which almost bugged Mario. He simply received the ball thrust into his possession. Mario stared at him, to see if something was missing, but his friendly confidence was still in his eyes, and his grin didn't seem to mask any other emotions…

…but it did look like he was planning something…

…maybe. Sonic hated planning, as proved from before, so that was a farfetched theory.

"What? I know I'm attractive, but there's no need to stare so hard!"

Mario, embarrassed, quickly shook off his unintentional intent stare and waited for Sonic to make his move.

"Time's almost up you know," Mario said, trying to provoke some sort of reaction from Sonic.

"Yeah, I know. I've still got plenty of time, no worries!"

Granted, quite a bit could happen in forty-five seconds.

Sonic finally started off what was probably going to be the final round, starting off by passing to Hammer Bro. He bolted down toward Yoshi, ready to receive a pass, only for his face to drop in horror when Shy Guy of all people stole the pass.

"Prepare to lose, losers!" he cackled, taking the ball down to knuckles.

"He's snapped," Toad sweat dropped, trotting after his unfortunate teammate.

Shy Guy laughed all the way down to Knuckles, whom Shy Guy was sure had lost all his confidence after all the ball that had gotten by him. What difference would another make? Shy Guy gleefully, and almost carelessly, shot the ball.

Sonic, still in the middle of the field, felt that he was about to admit that it was over.

Shy Guy struck a pose, only to get a cough and a finger point from Mighty, gesturing to the goal. Shy Guy glanced at Knuckles, only to notice that the echidna's massive hand stopped the ball from entering in a stylish fashion.

"Your goal scoring is over," he said with thick confidence, throwing the ball towards Mighty. Enraged, Shy Guy threw himself between Mighty and the ball, striking it again on the rebound.

"That's what you think!" Shy Guy barked back, landing on the ground. However, Knuckles once again stopped the ball single handed and tossed it to Hammer Bro. this time. Hammer Bro. retrieved it, but Shy Guy was right there to push him down, steal the ball, and shoot again.

Knuckles once again blocked it.

"What gives? !" howled Shy guy, on the verge of throwing a fit.

"Take it easy there, Shy Guy," Mario suggested, only for Shy Guy to steal the ball once more and attempt another shot. Knuckles caught it above his head and smirked at Shy Guy. He threw it out of the goal, this time Mario jumping up and receiving it. He performed a 360 kick, sending towards the net with extraordinary speed…

…though yet again, Knuckles stopped it.

"Fifteen seconds!" Toad yelped, thinking he was playing smart by staying clear out of the way.

"This isn't over!" Knuckles yelled, reeling his arm back and chucking the ball as far as he could.

Mighty and Hammer Bro. were both right there, so who the heck was he-

The two of them then remembered Sonic, who hadn't moved from the center field. He was facing Knuckles' goal, eyes closed, almost as if he was waiting for the inevitable end. Another loss, another humiliating defeat… It was a good game, for sure, but it had to end eventually…

But that's when Mario realized that Sonic had been silent for a reason- and that he wasn't waiting for the end…

He was waiting for an opportunity.

As if he was coming back to life, Sonic's green eyes shot open as he let out a battle cry and performed a backflip, his foot making designated contact with the ball Knuckles threw. Mario's, Shy Guy's, and Hammer Bro.'s jaws all dropped while Knuckles and Mighty just smirked.

"A bicycle kick? !" squealed Toad in disbelief. "But how did he know the ball was-"

The ball, now being propelled by even more force than before, was flying towards Yoshi's goal as the time slowly ticked down to zero. Yoshi shuffled up and down the goal, doing whatever it took to prevent the ball from getting past him. As it got closer, it started to glow blue, by pure coincidence. Yoshi gulped and jumped for it, bracing for a collision to the face if it came down to it.

The ball just missed Yoshi's head, flying right past Yoshi's eyes as it thudded snugly into the net, the buzzer going off afterwards.

The crowd erupted with excited cheers, all for different reasons, but cheers all the same.

Sonic, feeling a bit dizzy on his feet, overheard the cheers and wondered just what they were for.

"Didja win, Mario?" he asked in a slur, grabbing his head. Mario titled his head in bewildered confusion.

"What? No- you sent us into overtime!"

"I did what? !" Sonic exclaimed, frantically glancing around. "I mean, y-yeah, I wanted to make one more goal…but I didn't think I'd pull it off!"

"Well you did, and we get to go head to head for two more minutes!"

Sonic fainted.

. . .

"I suppose I stand corrected," Tails laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I thought for sure-"

"Yeah! Go Sonic!" cheered Wario, whipping out a pair of pom poms and dancing around. Daisy averted her eyes from the horrendous scene.

It only got worse when Amy started cheering alongside him.

"They had better really step it up, otherwise they'll tie again," Luigi stated, ignoring the scene occurring next to him.

"Heck yeah! I wanna see some fists fly!" cried Junior.

"I hope Mr. Sonic turns out okay…" trailed Cream, noticing Sonic still passed out on the ground.

. . .

Mario had to smack Sonic across the face repeatedly before he finally came to, but even then he was still totally out of it.

"Whoa…I had this weird dream that I kicked an amazing shot and brought the game into overtime…but now my cheeks just really hurt…"

"Sonic, all that really is true- now get a grip and let's end this!"

"Wha-"

Mario dropped Sonic onto the ground and jogged over to his side of the field, ready for anything this time around. Sonic groggily jumped to his feet and attempted to strike an intimidating pose.

"Look alive, Sonic," Mighty stated, walking up to him. "All or nothing at this point."

"Hey hey! Let's do this!" Hammer Bro. shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

"We'll win this hands down!" declared Shy Guy as he danced around. Toad folded his arms and rolled his eyes.

"I should hope with hands down, since this is striking, soccer, football…whatever…."

Mario and Sonic both crouched slightly, getting ready to spring.

"Feelin' lucky?" Sonic asked, slowly getting back into the swing of things as his grin returned to his face.

Mario returned the smirk with one of his own. "I've-a got this one, Sonic!"

The ball was dropped, and the two captains lunged at it on the spot. Sonic, being the faster one, reached the ball first, but Mario had thrown all his weight into his lunge and crashed into Sonic. This effectively knocked the hedgehog over and unintentionally gave Mario possession of the ball.

"Whoa!" Sonic yelped, stumbling backward and rolling down the tilt. "Hey!"

Mario, a bit taken aback, simply ran past the rolling Sonic. He passed to Toad a few times, approaching Knuckles in record time. Toad kicked the ball back to Mario once more, and Mario kicked it at Knuckles.

Knuckles spun around stylishly and caught the ball before it even came close.

"Did you think I was kidding?" Knuckles asked, tossing to ball to Mighty. Mighty leapt forward and accepted it, landing back on the ground and passing to Hammer Bro. Hammer Bro. nudged Shy Guy to get to it, running perfectly fine until Mario rolled in front of him and snatched the ball away.

"No!" grunted Hammer Bro., tripping over his own two feet trying to turn around.

Mario began to feel the pressure as he ran down the tilt once again, the field slowly shifting to be against him. The plumber hero pressed on, not letting something as simple as a tilted field stop him from making a goal.

However, a red echidna could.

"Knock that off!" Shy Guy demanded frantically, as Mario waved around his fists in frustration.

"You wish!" Knuckles howled, tossing the ball back again. It was aimed at Hammer Bro., but Shy Guy leapt on his back and wrestled him to the ground in probably the most unfair move ever.

"Oomph, dude, get revenge for high school after the game is over, okay?"

"Never!" declared Shy Guy, running up to the ball.

Just before his small foot could kick it back towards Knuckles, he heard the frantic screams of the other players and the sound of running away. Making the mistake of daring to look over his shoulder, Shy Guy was quickly bowled over by the golden streak that was coming up behind him.

"Now I'm serious!" Super Sonic shouted, kicking the ball upwards, sending it flying forwards and taking off after it.

"I hate that hedgehog," Shy Guy grumbled, flopping over and groaning in frustration.

Lightning crashed down from the overseeing gray clouds, doing their best to strike down their punishment onto the hedgehog. Super Sonic sidestepped them easily, practically moving at the speed of light himself. He was moving so fast, you could hardly say he was touching the ground.

"Here it comes, Yoshi!" Sonic shouted, aiming the ball and kicking moments later. Yoshi gasped and lunged for the ball, only for it to literally flip him over and land in the net anyway.

"Oomph…at least you warned me," Yoshi moaned, weakly giving a thumbs up.

. . .

"Yargh, poor Yoshi," Blaze stated just before getting caught up in a coughing fit.

"C'mon Mario! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Peach, Luigi, Daisy, Junior and Shadow all cheered in unison.

"Let's go Sonic! Let's go Sonic!" cried Amy, Tails, Cream, Silver, and Wario.

"This is going to end just beautiful, I know it…" grumbled Waluigi.

. . .

"Who's pushing me down, now?" Sonic scoffed, returning to the center field as his colors returned to normal. Mario simply received the ball, looking rather perplexed.

"Well, you're definitely not down for the count," Mario deduced. "…but then again, neither am I!"

He swiftly passed it to Toad, who managed to prevent a steal by Hammer Bro. Hammer Bro. wouldn't let up, however, and Toad was eventually forced to pass to Shy Guy.

"Heck yeah!" he belted out, taking off with the ball.

"Shy Guy!" Mario shouted, pushing through Mighty and Toad. "You've gotta keep passing to charge to ball up!"

"But if I pass someone's going to steal it!" protested Shy Guy.

"If you don't pass, I won't be able to get a shot in!" the captain yelled back. "And we sure as heck know you're never going to make another goal…"

Shy Guy let out an exasperated sigh and kicked the ball as hard as he could in a random direction. "FINE!"

"You fool!" Yoshi wailed in his goal as the ball careened downwards toward Mighty.

Toad, however, had his eyes locked on the ball, not taking his gaze off for a second. This, in turn, caused him to barrel right into Mighty, and for Mario to spring upwards and intercept the ball in the air. As soon as he landed, Sonic was right beside him, trying to wrestle the ball away from the plumber. However, Mario's evasive skills were unmatched, allowing him to twist and turn from every strike the hedgehog dealt.

Amidst all this, Mario had managed to alternate passes between Toad and Shy Guy, eventually charging up the ball. Once he had fought his way toward Knuckles, he gave Shy Guy a nod, and Shy Guy tackled Sonic to the ground.

"This…is…not…AMERICAN FOOTBALL!" howled Sonic, fighting to kick Shy Guy off.

"I call doing the first Sparta remix on that," Hammer Bro. told Mighty, giving him an elbow nudge as well. Mighty just shook his head.

…anyway, back with the action, Mario had kicked the ball high into the air, once again glowing red and taking off after it. He heroically felt his eyes burn with fiery determination to win, bringing his leg back to make the kick. He took a few precious seconds to aim, then let the ball have it.

Six balls blessed with the power of fire shot out of the sky, lighting up the purple stadium with their energy. They raced down toward the goal, ready to slam into that net and ascertain some points for Mario.

However, this apparently was not meant to be, if Knuckles grabbing a ball right out of the air was any indication.

The second ball came down and Knuckles punched it away. The third came down and Knuckles smacked it. The smile on his face continued to increase with every ball he managed to block. The fourth and fifth ones rained down at the exact same time, but echidna simply spread out his arms and stopped the balls on the spot. Mario appropriately gulped as he witnessed the fate of the sixth ball- Knuckles jumped up, slammed it downwards, then kicked it violently out of the net.

"Mama mia…"

. . .

"Oh SNAP!" shrieked Silver. "Did you just SEE that?"

"Who missed it?" scoffed Waluigi, only for Wario to look up from his paper and utter "Hm?"

"Mario's in trouble…" winced Peach, grabbing Luigi for support.

"Mario won't give up that easily…" trailed Shadow, receiving looks of disapproval.

"If Mario wins this match, then Wario would technically be beating you!" Rouge snapped. "How does THAT make you feel, huh? !

"…hmm. I oddly regret my previous decision to cheer on the plumber."

"That's what I thought."

"I guess that means it's safe for me to cheer for Mario again," grumbled Wario, back to sticking his nose in the newspaper.

"Traitor!" hissed Amy, whacking him out of his chair with a well-aimed hammer swing. "Sonic HAS to win!"

"Please don't let him win!" wailed Junior, falling to his knees and literally praying. Cream turned away and just frowned.

. . .

Mario was on the ground, resting on his knees with his mouth gaping wide open. Sonic eventually had to walk over there and close it for him.

"He blocked them all? !"

"About time in my opinion," muttered Sonic. "Especially after all that humiliating he had to go through. I swear, he hates being brought down…though I guess it's justified, since he hardly gets a moment as it is-"

"Oh, who cares?" complained Shy Guy. "Let's just finish this- it's gone on long enough!"

"Fine by me!" Sonic exclaimed, receiving the ball from Knuckles and taking off with it.

Fury radiated from Shy Guy.

"NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

Sonic passed to Mighty just as the stage began to tilt again, leaning in Mario's favor. Lightning started to strike again as well, proposing an extra challenge as well.

"Oh great…" sighed Mighty.

Then, as if by instinct, Might ducked, and Shy Guy went sailing right over his head and into a lightning bolt. Mighty snickered to himself and kept running, only to be stopped by Mario sliding under him and stealing the ball. He cheered in triumph, pumping a fist into the air. Hammer Bro. then came out of nowhere and stole the ball away, only to have it taken again by a charred Shy Guy.

Thus, it was a tangles mess of trying to get the ball back. Shy Guy had it, only to be struck by lightning and for Mighty to receive the ball back. Toad rolled into Mighty, knocking him over and claiming the ball, but losing it to Sonic, who ran up and snatched it without even being seen. He did perfectly fine in getting the ball back up the tilt…until bad luck struck him as well.

. . .

"Blasted lightning!"

"Someone fetch Tails a chill pill out of the vending machine."

. . .

As Sonic lay in a smoking heap, the ball began to roll down the tilt, but Hammer Bro. ran up and claimed it before it got too far. He tried to pick up where Sonic left off, but randomly grown mushrooms caused him to trip and lose control.

"Once again, sorry," Toad squeaked, running by and stealing the ball. Hammer Bro. weakly waved a hand.

"Yeah, whatever…"

Toad could only take a few steps before Mighty plowed him over and snatched the ball.

"This has gone on long enough!" shouted Shy Guy, flying into the air before lightning shocked him down to size. "I didn't even have the ball!"

"I'm on it," Mario said coolly, rolling onto the scene and taking the ball from Mighty. That's the moment that Sonic chose to make a move, but only succeeding to cause both Mario and Mighty to trip and for the ball to lose control.

As Mario, Mighty, and Sonic wormed their way out of the heap they created, Shy Guy tried to put out the electrical fire on his robe, and Toad flipped out, Hammer Bro. was the only one left to go after the ball. He retrieved it, kicked it up the hill, and ran with it.

He hated to do this, but he knew that Yoshi would be able to snatch the ball out of the air otherwise. As Hammer Bro. became closer and closer to the dinosaur, with nothing holding him back, he reached his hand into his shell, mentally taking aim.

"Hey, what're you doing over there-" Yoshi began to say, but was cut off midsentence with shock. Hammer Bro. jumped up and hurled a hammer at Yoshi, the hammer making a large curve in the air and homing in on the dinosaur.

"Yo yo!"

"No! NO!" yelped Yoshi, hitting the ground rather than risking brain damage. This made the goal wide open, thus allowing Hammer Bro. to casually strut over and kick the ball into the net.

. . .

"Wow, sneaky," Peach admitted, absentmindedly nodding in approval.

"Man, now what are gonna do?" whined Junior, grabbing Waluigi and shaking his repeatedly.

"SCREECH!"

"Petey doesn't like how things are going either," Rouge translated. "I, on the other hand, love it!"

"Let's just see how long this keeps up," stated Shadow, folding his arms.

"Let's go Sonic!" shouted Amy at the top of her lungs. "I LOVE YOU!"

. . .

Sonic rubbed his ear. "Jeez, that was so loud I could not only hear it from here, I definitely knew who it was…"

Hammer Bro. jogged back to the middle of the field, where Sonic held out his fists for a fist bump. Hammer Bro. happily returned it.

"Nice job," Sonic stated. "I totally wasn't expecting that from you!"

Hammer Bro. just chuckled. "I have a lot of secrets under the shell."

Sonic smirked, placing his hands on his hips. "I can see that."

The rest of the players eventually returned to their positions, with Mario flipping stylishly back to the middle.

"Heh, aren't you worried?" questioned Sonic, once the plumber's routine was finished. Mario simply shrugged and got ready to move.

"Not at all," Mario assured, starting to jump around and prepare. Sonic shrugged and readied himself as well.

"Then let's do this!"

The ball was dropped, and the two heroes clashed together to go after it. The duo fought rapidly with each other to gain possession of the ball, only for the ball to roll out of their scuffle. Mighty rushed in and claimed the ball, sprinting up the tilt back up to Yoshi. He shot the ball easily with no hindrances, but Yoshi simply stood where he was, snatched the ball up with his tongue, and spat it in the direction of Shy Guy.

"Yeah!"

Shy Guy jumped up and kicked it forward, landing back on the ground and running after it. Hammer Bro. leapt in front of him in an act of defense, but being an offensive player, Shy Guy managed to get by him easily.

"I'm back, Knuckles!" yelled Shy Guy, approaching the echidna and aiming at his goal. Knuckles smirked and crouched down, catching the ball between his legs.

"And I'm back, too!" retorted Knuckles. He bowled the ball, knocking Shy Guy over and directing it at Hammer Bro. He slid forward to make contact, followed by turning around and heading back up to Yoshi. An unfortunate strike of lightning crashed down, hitting him directly and sending him flying into the fence.

"Double dosage of voltage…" Toad trailed, cringing at the scene as he hurried over to the ball. It rolled down the tilt, Toad almost letting run on its own. However, this proved to be a mistake, because lighting struck him as well, effectively causing the ball to ricochet away and land in the center of the field. The field slowly began to flatten out again, giving Mighty and Shy Guy an equal playing field to run toward to the ball from.

Suddenly, they both braked to a stop, both whirling around and gaping in shock.

To one side of the field was Mario, grown several times his size and smirking to himself.

To the other side was Sonic, jumping up, performing several front flips, and eventually bursting with power and glowing into a brilliant shade of gold.

Mighty, Hammer Bro., Shy Guy, and Toad all exchanged glances before running to the edges of the field to stay clear out of the way.

"Ready to end this?" asked Mario, taking a step forward and holding up his fists.

"You better believe it! Ready…"

"GO!"

The sidekicks all flinched as Sonic flew forward and Mario took one giant leap to the center of the field, a loud boom radiating out of their collision. Super Sonic was pushing against Super Mario, with Super Mario doing everything in his power to hold him back. Neither one was budging, and both of them wanted to be the one to claim the ball last.

"Give it up, Mario! I'm coming out on top this time!" Sonic declared, trying to fly faster and succeeding in making Mario move slightly.

"How about taking your own advice!" countered the plumber, pushing back once again.

In an act of complete surprise, Super Mario grabbed Super Sonic, catching the flying golden hedgehog off guard.

"What the-?"

Mario tossed Sonic to the right, flinging into the electric fence and landing right next to the sidekicks, who all jumped away in terror. The electricity shocked Sonic harshly, eventually bringing him down from Super status.

"Didn't see than coming…"

Mario thundered down the field, causing a quake every time his feet landed on the ground. He reached Knuckles in no time at all, taking aim while he was big and kicking just as he turned small again.

It was a futile effort, considering Knuckles could block it no problem…

…but even more shocking than Mario tossing Super Sonic into an electric fence…

…was that Knuckles stepped to the side and let Mario make the goal.

"Knuckles-? !" Sonic began to screech, only to hear the buzzer go off afterwards. "Huh-?"

He glanced up at the scoreboard- three points had been made during overtime, boosting the tied score of 8-8 to 10-9…

…and it was in Sonic's favor.

Mario sat on the ground looking rather stunned as Sonic burst out in celebration and broke out in a song and dance.

"Huh…?"

"Hammer Bro.'s goal was what propelled Sonic into the lead," said Mighty, walking up to Mario. "I didn't even realize until it was over…"

"So that's it, then…" Mario pushed himself off the ground and scratched the back of his head.

"Was I the only one paying attention to the score?" Knuckles questioned, walking out of the goal. "I knew Sonic was ahead by two, so-"

"You let me kick the last goal because it wouldn't matter anyway," Mario realized, a small grin beginning to take shape. Knuckle just shrugged casually.

"Nah, that was totally a lucky kick. I thought I saw someone vandalizing the vending machine again, and you just took the opportunity."

"Yeah, okay," chuckled Toad, joining in with Hammer Bro.

"No one could beat up that thing worse than you anyway," laughed Hammer Bro., cuing everyone to laugh as well.

"Ha ha, yeah…hey, wait a minute-"

**Back in the Lounge-**

Everyone was surprisingly not all up in a buzz about the latest victory- it was more of a casual thing, with another win, another loss, and another lesson or something learned. All the girls were at the table gushing about how well Mario and Sonic played, and Blaze even admitted that she was starting to feel a little better. Junior then walked over an offered Cream a soda from the vending machine, which she naturally thanked him for and left him happy for the rest of the break.

"I knew Sonic would win all along," declared Shadow, only for Wario to roll his eyes.

"You're unbelievable."

"I'm unbelievably ultimate, if that's what you mean."

"That was great, don't'cha think?" Silver asked Waluigi, the two of them just now entering the lodge. Waluigi gave a small shrug.

"Eh, I guess it was entertaining to watch."

"I must say, I'm impressed Big Blue pulled it off this time," admitted Rouge, smiling to herself. Petey then ran over and glomped Rouge, letting out an excited squeal. Peach and Daisy both snickered at the table.

"I guess Petey still has a liking for you," laughed Daisy, brushing her hair out of her face. Rouge gave a defeated sigh and slumped in Petey's grip.

"I give up…I'd almost say I'd rather have him as he was on the field, but then I'd get slammed with muck again…"

"Screech!"

Knuckles and Yoshi then burst into the lounge, making a scene and a lot of noise.

"I heard you were good, but that was amazing!" Yoshi exclaimed, making Knuckles' delicate ego skyrocket. "You were a little shaky at first, but once you got into it, nothing could get by you! You even completely shrugged off a Mega Strike!"

"Heh, thanks…you weren't too bad yourself. I wasn't expecting you to be so quick, honestly. With a little more practice, you could be as good as me eventually!"

'You think so?"

"Definitely. Of course…" Knuckles donned a smug expression. "There's no way Sonic could've won without me, so-"

Amy came out of nowhere and hovered over him with her hammer.

"Sonic could've won even without your help, Knuckles!"

"Yeah right! If anyone else was in the goalie, Mario would have probably made all of his Mega Strikes, and then guess what the outcome would've been?"

Amy grunted in response, then suddenly looked confused. "Where are Mario and Sonic, anyway?"

"Where they always are," replied Yoshi, gesturing to the white board. Said heroes were engaged in a pretty heated discussion over the last match.

"Just when I thought you had me…" Sonic began, hands stuffed into the pockets of his light blue shorts. "It turns out I was ahead the whole time!"

"I sort of thought we could beat you easily again," Mario confessed, tugging on his gloves. "But it looks like I was wrong!"

"Heh, never think I'm down for the count before it even begins!" Sonic said with a wink. He held out his hand for Mario to shake. "Thanks for giving us a challenge."

Mario smiled and took Sonic's hand. "Likewise. I can't remember the last time I had as much fun!"

As the two grinned at each other, they suddenly felt taps on their shoulders and turned around.

"How come you guys are talking like it's over?" asked Luigi, hands on his hips. Sonic looked confused.

"Well…I won, didn't I?"

"For being the scorekeeper you sure aren't paying very close attention," Tails threw in as he folded his arms.

"What're you talking about?" Mario inquired. Luigi walked up to the whiteboard and gestured to it.

"Well, let's review."

"Match number one!" Tails began, using his wrench to point to Amy and Peach's stats. "Peach beat Amy with a score of 6-4. Thus, claiming Mario's first point overall."

"Yeah, you two were the goals for that game," Amy recalled.

"Yes, all that is true, so?" Peach asked, the rest of the group starting to gather around the white board as the scene progressed.

"Match two was Silver and Waluigi," Luigi continued. "Silver won quite impressively with a score of 5-6, and making the overall score 1-1."

"And what a match it was!" Silver said cheekily. "It was definitely my favorite!"

"Hmph, loser…" grunted Waluigi.

"Then the third match pitted Junior against Cream, with it looking like Cream, the kicking prodigy, may have been at a disadvantage with Bowser as goalie," Tails explained.

"But with Junior's accidental goal switch, Junior allowed Cream the lead of 7-8, and bringing Team Sonic into the lead!"

"It was so much fun!" cheered Cream.

"Hmph," muttered Junior. "And the point of bringing all this up is…?"

"…coming soon," Tails assured. "Next was Rouge and Petey, and we all knew how well that went-"

"Don't remind me," Rouge growled, still in the clutches of Petey."

"Strikers Champion Petey naturally blew away the competition with the score being 8-4, and tying up the overall score once more."

"Following them was Yoshi and Knuckles, in a rather interesting match…" Tails grinned nervously just thinking about it. "Yoshi came back from a bad start with the resulting score of 8-7 I believe, and giving Mario another point, rendering it 3-2."

"Yeah!" cheered Yoshi.

"I'd blame Sonic, but I'm too noble to do that," stated Knuckles. Sonic folded his arms and glared at the echidna.

"Yeah, that's why you trapped me on top of the vending machine and erased all my hard work!"

"And I still helped you earn your victory, did I not?"

"We're getting to that!" Luigi exclaimed. "As we all know, the death match was number six. Wario brutally owed Shadow at several points in the game, but the Ultimate Life form refused to succumb to scum like Wario."

"Darn straight," huffed Shadow. Wario, on the other hand, shook a fist.

"Who're you calling scum?"

"Shadow led his team into overtime and ended off his match with a score total of 5-6 as well, tying up the overall score once more."

"The overall score has been tied for most of the game," Blaze realized, looking thoughtful. Luigi nodded in her direction.

"Exactly…yours and Daisy's round was next, and though Blaze played very well at the end despite her oncoming sickness, Daisy managed to secure victory with the score being 5-4 and the overall score ending in 4-3."

"Which brings us to your match," Tails emphasized, leaning towards Sonic and Mario. "Sonic won, and now you think the tournament is over, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"How can it be over if the score is tied?" Luigi said dangerously, cuing gasps from the crowd.

"You designed this tournament yourself to be impossible to end in a tie," Tails added. "So, what's wrong with this picture?"

"But Sonic and I were supposed to go last," Mario explained, scratching his head. However, receiving two blatant looks from Luigi and Tails, it suddenly clicked. "Oh…oh…_OH!"_

"Oops…" Sonic trailed, catching on as well. "Sorry guys, we unintentionally skipped you…"

"I guess when it neared the end, we didn't need the Randomizer anymore and we forgot that you two still hadn't gone yet…"

"That's okay," Luigi assured. "We just wanted to let you know that you did skip us. We don't even want to play anyway-"

He was quickly cut off by Tails jumped on his back and clamping his hand over Luigi's mouth, but it was too late. The words had already escaped.

"But you guys_ have_ to play!" huffed Daisy. "All of this would have been for nothing!"

"The tournament was made tie-proof for a reason, you know!" Silver cried.

"But…but…but…" stammered Luigi and Tails, exchanged glances frantically.

"You guys have to finish the tournament," Mario stated, almost pleading.

"It looks like it's up to you instead," Sonic sighed. "I know it might be asking a lot, but you've got to pull this game through to the end!"

Tails and Luigi glanced around at everyone, some with pleading faces, others with expressions on the brink of disappointment, and at least a fourth of them looking rather indifferent.

_"I almost wish Mario won the match now,"_ Tails whispered silently. _"Then we wouldn't even have to do this…"_

_"I know,"_ agreed Luigi. _"It's more pressure than if we had went before them!"_

_"I guess…they'd be more disappointed with a tie than a clear-cut winner,"_ Tails gulped_._

_"Then I guess…"_

"...We'll do it," they said at the same time, causing the group to erupt in cheers. Tails jumped off of Luigi's back and glanced up at him, receiving an attempted reassuring smile in return. Mario and Sonic rushed up to them, both of them hugging their respective brothers.

"You're going to be great!" Sonic exclaimed. "You're going to lead us to our much deserved victory, right?"

Tails gulped and let out a chuckle. "Y-Yeah…I'll do my best."

"This is it, Luigi!" Mario stated, patting his brother on the back. "It's your time to shine! We will get them this time, won't we?"

"We'll get them all right…" Luigi muttered in return.

Satisfied, Mario and Sonic bolted out the door with the rest of the crew, eager to see the tournament finally reach its conclusion. Luigi and Tails walked up to the door and traded one last look.

"May the best team win?" Luigi asked, holding his hand sideways for Tails to take. Tails took a deep breath and accepted the shake.

"May the best team win."

* * *

**I wanted to finish this yesterday, but computer complication said otherwise... (I also wasn't planning on this chapter being so long...guess I got carried away or something!)  
**

**And now, with the game not quite over, Luigi and Tails must face off in the final match of the tournament...with quite a bit at stake. **


	11. Up to the Brothers

**Well, this is it, guys. The final match! The determinator! The worlds will probably end after this! ...maybe not really, but there's no way you could've predicted this before hand. Not even I. :P**

**I wanted this to be a bit longer, but...well, it sort of wrote iteslf! Um, enjoy...**

* * *

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!

Up to the Brothers

_Match 9: Luigi vs Miles "Tails" Prower_  
_Goalies: Princess Daisy and Cream the Rabbit_  
_Stadium: The Sand Tomb_  
_Current Score: Mario- 4, Sonic-4_

The Sand Tomb seemed almost too suitable for Luigi and Tails- being a tomb and all. It was quiet, open, and a little ominous, especially since there was no ear-numbing screams from fans, because there was nowhere for them to sit.

Instead, they got to enjoying nothing but the sound of their friends and rivals yelling at them to do better, knock some heads, show no mercy, and to make sure that the other was brought down.

Tails flew worriedly onto the field, quaking in his armor. He told himself mentally several times that he would try to have fun, but the knowledge of how much pressure he was under was eating him alive.

"Try to look a little calmer, Tails," Cream stated, flying into the goal herself. "You'll do fine!"

"Thanks, Cream…"

"Aw, don't look so down, mate! What're ya worrying so hard for anyway?" asked Marine, walking up with Hammer Bro. Tails closed his eyes and frowned deeply.

"I'm afraid that if I lose…I'll let Sonic down. I had to watch him be disappointed at a loss once, and if I was the one to cause another…"

"Sonic's too good of a sport to be upset with you if lose," Cream continued. "He'd be proud of you just the same!"

"Then just leave this to me, I suppose…"

"Not when I'm back in action!" shouted Shy Guy, striking a pose on the field as Koopa hid his face and trudged up next to him. Daisy, in the goal, simply folded her arms and tossed her hair back.

"This match better be more engaging than my own," she told Cream, hiding a smirk. Cream simply smiled and waved back.

"I just hope it'll be fun, being the last match and all!"

"Last match indeed…" winced Tails, staring hard at the sandy ground.

As his own theme faded out, Luigi's kicked in, being a very lively Flamenco tune. Everyone watched as he cascaded from the sky, arms outstretched like he was flying. Then, as he neared the ground, he did a quick flip, landed on his feet, tipped his hat, and said, "Luigi!"

The crowd went wild.

Luigi stretched out his limbs a bit as Tails mulled to the middle of the field. He gave Luigi a small smile and scratched the back of his head.

"Ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," the plumber sighed back, ceasing his preparations.

"Even though all our friends and rivals are going to be telling us to tear the other's head off?"

"…yeah, pretty much."

Without another word, the two crouched into position, and the ball was dropped for a final time.

. . .

"Here it is!" squealed Amy, gripping Peach almost as much as she was during the previous match. "The last round! The ultimate decider! The match that determines our fate!"

"Who do you all think is going to win?" Peach asked, turning to everyone around her.

"It's gotta be Tails," Knuckles said in a muffled tone, thanks to the bite out of the mound of food he had. "If he doesn't win, he owes me for all this vending machine food."

"Hmph," grumbled Yoshi. "I paid for it…"

"Well, I believe Luigi's got this," Toad grinned. "He's always been quite an underdog."

"But so has Tails," Junior pointed out. "He has just as much of a chance as Luigi!"

"You're just saying that because Cream's the goalie," hummed Rouge. Junior instantly flustered and started swatting at the bat.

"That's not true! Grrr…"

"I'd hate to say it, but it's definitely all Luigi," Waluigi stated slowly. Wario snorted.

"And that's because of Daisy-"

"Can nothing be related to secret romance anymore? !"

"I've got Tails' back all the way!" Silver cheered, manipulating himself and hovering in the air to see better. Shadow rolled his eyes.

"Just like you had Amy's back in the first match?"

"He's got a point, Silver," Blaze pointed out.

"Mrph…well, I don't really care who wins- I just want to see some epic kicking and screaming!"

"SCREECH!"

"Not from you, Petey…"

Sonic stood at the very end, getting what was probably the best view of the field…

…considering he was standing on a pole.

"Hey Mario, you should come up here! You jump flagpoles all the time!"

"No," Mario muttered, arms folded and watching the unfolding match carefully. Sonic frowned, jumped up, then slid down the pole and landed next to Mario.

"Whoa, what's got you all serious?"

Mario said nothing for a moment, then heaved a sigh.

"It's just…well, Luigi and Tails didn't even want to do their match…"

"I know, but-"

"Well…don't you wonder why?"

. . .

Tails got quite a wakeup call when Luigi jetted forward, claimed the ball, and sent the fox tumbling to the ground.

"Sorry Tails- force of habit."

"Yeah, no problem…" Tails wheezed on the ground, rolling over and groaning.

It was almost like all previous signs of doubt had disappeared from Luigi. He rushed down the field with a flair of confidence, passing to Shy Guy and charging up the ball. Luigi easily defended the ball away from the likes of Hammer Bro., but Marine presented more of a challenge.

"You ain't getting this ball much farther, mate!"

"Wait and see," Luigi shot back with a smile, kicking it through her legs and at Koopa.

Meanwhile, Tails pushed himself off the ground, dusting himself off and putting on a look of determination.

"Well, if Luigi's not going to worry about it, then I shouldn't either!" Tails declared, using his tails to propel him down the field. "I'll do my best!"

Back down the field, Luigi had pushed through Marine and Hammer Bro.'s defenses, and was on course for Cream's goal. Shy Guy currently had the ball, powering forward and determined not to lose this time.

"I don't need to trick you to make a goal!" Shy Guy cackled. His feet kicked dust into the air and he readied his shot, taking aim at the goal as Cream prepared to spring. However, as Cream was focused on the ball, Koopa came in from her blind spot, pulled into his shell and knocking her off balanced with a well-placed shot. Cream yelped and lurched forward as Shy Guy seized the opportunity.

"Doesn't need to trick her, but still feels the need to play dirty!" Marine hissed under her breath.

Just before the ball entered Cream's territory, a yellow flash suddenly intercepted the ball. Blinking several times revealed that it was Tails, stopping the ball with one of his tails. Smiling a bit, he spun around and flung the ball at Marine, who had passed to Hammer Bro. who had already started running.

"Cheat!" Shy Guy barked, only for Koopa to walk up to him shaking his head. Luigi rushed by both of them, snapping his fingers by their ears.

"C'mon, no time to dwaddle!" Luigi ordered. "Keep moving!"

Hammer Bro. happily made his way back toward Daisy, despite the sand trying to slow him down. Once he reached the middle of the field, he noticed he could move a lot easier…but also ended up getting crushed by an unexpected Thwomp.

"Huh? !" Tails gasped, stopping in his tracks at the sight of his teammate crushed by a floating slab of rock.

"That's this stadium's gimmick," Koopa explained, gesturing to Shy Guy nabbing the ball, dodging Marine, and passing to Luigi. "The area is very hard to maneuver through, with the exception being the middle, which has Thwomps…"

"And that's it?" Tails asked.

"Well, besides that and the obvious electric fence, the outer parts of the field have weak quicksand- it slows down players twice as much, unless they're a defense type."

Tails stared at the ground thoughtfully until the goal sound rang out. He and Koopa snapped their heads to Cream's goal, where the ball now resided. Luigi chuckled to himself, spun around, and snapped his fingers.

"Grazie!"

"Huh," Tails muttered, glancing at the edges of the field. "This should be getting interesting soon, then."

. . .

"Wow, Luigi made a goal and Tails and Koopa totally missed it," Blaze said, surprised.

"Poor Cream didn't even see it coming!" wailed Junior, only to receive weird looks. "Erm, I mean…yay, Luigi! One for the home team!"

"You forget, though, that Tails blocked a shot from Shy Guy, so he's done something as well," Peach pointed out.

"Plus it looks like the kid's got a plan," huffed Shadow.

. . .

Tails stood at the middle of the field, waiting for the ball to be returned to him.

"I'm sorry, Tails," Cream apologized from the goal. "I should've been paying more attention."

"You're fine, Cream- I was the one that was distracted…"

Luigi and his team waited patiently for Tails to make a move (except Shy Guy, who was hastily shifting from one foot to another). Tails eventually received the ball and kicked it backward to Marine.

"Go, go!" Luigi ordered, sending Shy Guy and Koopa forward. Daisy just huffed an irritated sigh from the goal.

"Yeah, go make some more goals and leave me unimportantly over here…"

"I'd like to think you not getting kicked at would be a good thing…"

"Where's the fun in that?"

Luigi sighed and followed his team into the fray, where the ball was lost somewhere in the possession of Marine and Shy Guy. Marine kicked and twisted constantly to wrench the ball away from Shy Guy, but Shy Guy's fancy footwork was proving to be quite the advantage. Hammer Bro. saw Marine in trouble and pulled out his hammer.

"I was saving this for an emergency, but this looks like as good a time as any!"

He hurled it with such precision that it curved in the air and hit his destined target- Shy Guy. The masked man toppled over instantly, with Marine emerging victoriously out of the gridlock. She passed to Tails, who quickly had the ball stolen by Luigi.

"Sorry to slide in like this!" he chuckled, making off with the ball and heading in the other direction. Tails was taken aback at first, but then smirked and turned away from Luigi.

"Oh no, don't worry about it. I'm just sorry to blow you off like this!"

Luigi inwardly winced. "Blow me off like what?"

He was replied by a massive whirlwind building up around Tails, blowing sand into the air and scooping up Shy Guy and even Hammer Bro. Tails, who was causing this huge tornado by spinning his tails at a furious rate, eventually called out, "HURRICANE!"

Now, the wind funnel was nowhere near as devastating as an actually hurricane, but it sure caused enough destruction like one. Shy Guy and Hammer Bro. were being whipped around in the air like ragdolls while Marine and Koopa did the smart thing and fled. Tails growled a little as he forced the hurricane forward, closing in on Luigi, who was trying to escape as well. However, the wind storm caught up with him, and slurped Luigi into the air like a smoothie through a straw on a summer day.

"WAAAAAH!"

Eventually the hurricane subsided, dropping the three unfortunate victims as far away from the ball as possible. The ball had miraculously missed being enveloped by the hurricane, thus allowing Koopa to run forward and claim the ball for his team again.

"I wouldn't be thinking so, mate!" Marine called, sliding in from behind and sweeping Koopa's legs from under him. She kicked the ball toward Tails, who kicked it a far distance forward and ran through the sands to Daisy.

Daisy, who was starting to nod off like Wario had, snapped to attention and went on the defensive.

"Yeah! 'bout time I got some time to shine!"

Tails propelled himself close to the ball, taking aim when he was close enough to Daisy. He managed to fake her out once, then proceeded to make his shot. However, Daisy had recovered rather quickly and managed to block the shot.

"Heh heh- huh?"

Daisy hadn't noticed Marine run up, heading straight to where Daisy rebounded the ball to. She kicked it with all the power she could muster, and nearly knocked the princess over with the force of the shot.

"Hooray!" cheered Hammer Bro., throwing his arms into the air.

. . .

"Sneak attack from Marine ties the game up, one to one!" Silver announced. "With Tails already making a whirlwind out of this game, things are already, how you say, being blown to epic proportions!"

"Not really," Waluigi interrupted. "Although the hurricane was a little unexpected…"

"Seems like an even match," Shadow said, appearing minutely interested.

"Yeah, yeah, but I wanna see some heads roll already!" Junior complained, sitting upside down in his seat and whining.

"I'm sure it'll pick up soon; after all, it's just begun!" Peach exclaimed, though something in her voice betrayed that.

. . .

Luigi watched as Tails and Marine spun happily back to the center, celebrating their lucky goal. Daisy was looking a bit miffed, upset about being caught off guard like that.

"They won't get by me next time," Luigi heard her mutter loudly. He turned and gave her an assuring thumb up as the ball was passed to him and Tails landed before him. The fox smiled brightly at him before donning a serious expression, ready to tackle the ball if need be. The determination on his face deterred Luigi quite a bit- on the outside he was determined, but inside, he was still as nervous as ever.

Though the same could be said for Tails.

Luigi barreled forward with perfect balance, weaving between Tails and Marine easily. He danced around Hammer Bro. as well, but the turtle stole Koopa's tactic pulled into his shell at the last moment and finally removed Luigi's equilibrium.

"Aw man," Luigi groaned as he hit the ground, with Marine and Shy Guy hurdling over him in a fierce race to the ball. They were both beaten to the punch by Hammer Bro., who was already there, and he passed to Tails. Tails jumped up and kicked it down toward Daisy's goal, but as he was getting ready to retrieve it again, Koopa jumped in form nowhere and sent it flying back again.

Shy Guy pushed Marine out of his way and leapt into the air, making contact with the ball and sent it careening downwards to Luigi. Luigi sprung up with surprising agility and caught it, landing back on the ground and taking off. Tails eventually caught up with the spring plumber thanks to the use of his tails, with also allowed him to overturn the obstacle of the sand slowing him down. He flew in front of Luigi and kicked at the ball, making contact, but it didn't go anywhere.

"What? !" Tails yelped, glancing down.

Luigi's cleat rested firmly on the ball, absorbing the impact of Tails' kick. Tails looked back up, only to be utterly horrified when he realized that Luigi was beginning to grow, just like Mario had in the last match.

"Super Luigi!"

Tails tried to back away, but it was already too late. The oversized plumber kicked the ball with overkilling gusto, also effectively sending Tails flying away.

"WOAAH!"

He practically cartwheeled in the air, spiraling several times until he met face the face with the electric fence. As Tails was electrocuted very violently, Luigi powered down the field once again, running straight up to Cream and shooting.

Cream probably did the smart thing by jumping out of the way.

Luigi shrunk back down to normal size and bowed, but then glanced over his shoulder at Tails, laying on the quicksand and twitching with electricity.

. . .

"Yow, talk about a shocker!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"Man, what is going on with those two?" Mario asked, watching the game more intently than anyone else, including Shadow, who was overlooking the statistics and trying to determine who would win.

"It's almost like they're not even trying," Knuckles agreed, sounding a little irritated. "Tails just let Luigi plow him over like that."

"And Luigi didn't do too much when Tails activated the hurricane," added Peach as well.

"Still not worth watching, eh?" Junior asked, still upside down.

Sonic said nothing.

. . .

"That was unexpected," grunted Tails, trying to get over his recent electrocution. Luigi was looking very sheepish and a bit red in the face.

"Erm…sorry about that. I dunno what came over me…"

"It's fine, it's all in the name of the game."

"Yeah, but…" Luigi rubbed the back of his head. "It was a little…violent-"

"Ah, so what?" Shy Guy butted in, waving his tiny arm around. "You gotta do what you've gotta do!"

"Oh, can it, Shy Guy," muttered Koopa, waiting for the match to continue.

The ball was rolled to Tails, who you could tell was utterly conflicted. Thus, he passed to Marine and pushed through Luigi's team, battling down to Daisy's side of the field. Marine, meanwhile, kicked between Luigi's legs and passed to an awaiting Hammer Bro.

"Yeah!" Hammer Bro. cheered, pumping a fist into the air. However, Shy Guy was riding his heels, and Hammer Bro. noticed he was slowly being nudged toward the quicksand on the outer edge…and the electric fence.

"Oh no you don't!"

Hammer Bro. quickly spun around, taking the ball with him and making Shy Guy the one closer to the edge. He then gave Shy Guy a small push, but Shy Guy overacted completely and not only hurled into the quicksand, but smacked the fence as well.

"DAAAH!"

Hammer Bro. cringed.

"Yikes."

Anyway, he passed to Marine, who was coming up on his left. Koopa, in shell form, rammed literally between them and intercepted the ball.

"Ha ha!" he cried, pulling out of his shell and running off.

"Someone help me!" Shy Guy wailed, still floundering in the relatively weak quicksand. Needless to say, he wasn't the top priority.

Tails and Luigi panted as they ran down the field, Luigi trying to catch up with Koopa and Tails trying to cut him off. Koopa noticed both of them approaching from behind and winced, instinctively taking a shot. He was a reasonable distance away from Cream, but the rabbit caught the ball and rolled it to Tails.

"Thank you!" Luigi exclaimed, skidding in front of him and taking it for himself.

"What the heck?" Tails growled, a low rumble emitting from his throat.

Luigi shot the ball once more, but Cream blocked it excellently and passed to Hammer Bro. instead.

"Hey, don't worry about me, I got it!" Shy Guy yelled to no one in particular, finally pulling himself out of the sand trap. As he flopped onto solid ground, Hammer Bro., Tails, Koopa, Marine, and Luigi thundered by him, nearly knocking him right back into the sand again. "Grrrr!"

Hammer Bro. gasped and passed to Marine, who went to pass it right back, but Luigi jumped in the way once more and stole it back.

"How do you like it?" Tails suddenly intervened, lunging at Luigi and kicking the ball away from him.

"Gah? !"

Luigi stumbled backwards, with Tails propelling away and taking the ball with him. He passed to Marine, who went in for another shot on Daisy. The flower princess did a quick flip and blocked the ball, smirking proudly to herself. Marine frowned and shot again, but Daisy blocked again.

"Not so easy now, is it?" she chuckled.

"No, nor really," Hammer Bro. replied, tossing his hammer once more. Daisy ducked under it swiftly and chortled at Hammer Bro.'s failed attempt. However, closer inspection revealed that Hammer Bro. wasn't really aiming for anything, and that Tails has promptly kicked the ball into the net, securing another point for the team.

. . .

"Yeah, that's it Tails!" cheered Knuckles and Amy.

"Good try, Daisy," Peach added.

"Yeah, she did much better than last round, despite still getting duped," Blaze pointed out.

"Is it just me, or are Tails and Luigi acting really weird?" Wario asked, leaning in to try and get a closer look.

"Actually, yeah," Silver injected. "Luigi's acting oddly violent…"

"And it's like Tails has some mood swings going on or something," Junior threw in, now sitting correctly again. "Though now it seems he's just upset."

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Sonic trailed, sneaking a glance at Mario. The look on the plumber's face revealed that he was feeling the same way.

. . .

Luigi noticed Tails' ears were twitching subtly, but uncontrollably all the same.

"Uh, are you okay?" he asked the fox, worriedly.

"I could say the same about you."

"What're you talking about?"

"Well, what are you talking about?"

Luigi frowned and crouched into position, officially ending the conversation. With the score tied 2-2, there was no time for idle chit-chat, especially if his opponent wasn't feeling chatty.

Tails didn't seem to care anyway- he was trying to overhear the spectators' discussions, but with everyone talking at the same time, it was hard to make out anything distinct. He eventually gave up, even with his enhanced hearing, and returned his attention back to the game.

Luigi was given the ball, and his eyes began to scan the field furiously, planning his next strategy. Tails, however, didn't give him a chance to finish thinking up one. He propelled himself forward, stole the ball, and plowed through Luigi like he was paper. The plumber skidded on his back after that, landing at the feet of Hammer Bro. who proceeded to trip over him.

"Erm…sorry, Luigi."

Luigi did nothing more than raise a hand and get off the ground. He watched Tails continually pass to Marine, his eyes lighting up with a determined spark.

"It's best I end this before things get a little too out of hand," he mumbled to himself, staring at his hand that was beginning to charge electricity.

Meanwhile, Tails, Marine, and Hammer Bro. were continuously trying to score on Daisy, but the princess was practically a ninja with the she flipped, spun, and blocked. She landed on her feet after her most recent mid-air stop and grinned.

"Yeah, that's hot stuff, am I right?" she giggled, balancing a hand on her hip. Marine shoved Koopa out of the way and retrieved the ball again.

"If you don't min' me sayin', you're a bit full of yourself, mate."

Daisy fumed and readied her stance once again. "Ah, whatever. Just try and make another shot! My sweetie's going to win no matter what!"

"We'll see about that!" Tails shot back, also sliding in front of Marine and shooting the ball. Daisy jumped up, smashed her fist into the ground, and caused several crystals to rise up from the ground, blocking the ball and preventing it from even entering the net. Tails' jaw dropped as Marine pitched a fit.

"Hey, you can't do that! That's not fair, mate!"

"Well, Silver using his ability wasn't fair either, and I could just as easily complain about that," Daisy shrugged. "So don't tell me about fair!"

Koopa just whistled as Hammer scratched his head.

"Wow, and I thought Shadow and Wario's match had some tension…" trailed Hammer Bro.

"Ironically that's the same match Daisy was referring to," chuckled Koopa nervously.

"I'd like to get this over with before I grow a beard, thank you!" Shy Guy interrupted. He ran in front of the crystal wall as it began to recede, bolting past Tails and claiming the ball for himself. Taking off with it, he passed to Koopa, who snapped back into game mode and passed back to Shy Guy. They were chased by Hammer Bro., but with their maneuvering and weaving they managed to get the ball back down to Cream's side and charging it up.

"All you, Green Thunder!" Shy Guy yelled, kicking the ball toward Luigi. Luigi broke out into a grin and lobbed the ball upward.

"Thunder…" he trailed, jumping up after the ball. "…strikes like lightning!"

Tails' pupils noticeably shrunk as he and Marine made their way to the other side of the field as well. He froze in place, shivers rocking down his spine.

"Thunder? ! LIGHTNING? !"

Luigi rose from the Sand tomb surrounded by a green aura, his eyes beginning to glow brightly. The ball at his side, he moved his hand, and the ball moved with it. He circled it around his body before bringing it right in front of him, infusing it with his power. Then, with one huge spark, the ball returned back to the ground as five, preparing to strike like the lighting they were surrounded by. One whizzed right over Tails' head, which frightened him so much that he stumbled backward into the electric fence.

Meanwhile, Cream stood her ground in the goal, ready to defend her position. The ball that nearly knocked Tails out came down first, which Cream grabbed from right out of the air. The second one got past her for being too far to the left, along with the third, which she dove for but was too late to reach. Frowning, she leapt back to her feet to block the fourth one, but missed. The fifth one prepared to have the same fate as the previous three, but Cream's ears twirled around and lifted her into the air. The ball landed right into her arms, and she landed right in the net.

But she still had blocked it.

. . .

"Atta girl, Cream!" cheered Sonic and Amy, the former giving a thumbs up. Waluigi stuck up his nose.

"Hmph, she only blocked two!"

"I found it impressive!" Junior butted in. "Y-you know, for a girl."

"So that puts Luigi in the lead by…three, right?" Blaze asked. Peach nodded.

"Yes, the score is 5-2, now."

"Tails is not gonna like that…" Yoshi mumbled, shaking his head.

. . .

"That does it!" Tails shrieked, his fur standing on end and his face a combination of frustrated and terrified. "I can't take this anymore!"

He marched back to the middle and stared Luigi down.

"Since when can you use lighting? !"

"Well, it stems back to when I-"

"Okay, just wait for a second," Tails panted, grabbing Luigi's shoulders. "Look at what this match is turning us into! You're practically a tyrant and I'm a nervous wreck!"

"I know," Luigi groaned, hanging his head. "I'm usually never so…brutal."

"And I'm never so wound up," muttered Tails. "I guess the pressure is driving us to madness!"

They both sighed, knowing that it was pretty much a stalemate for them until one of them emerged victorious. Valiantly, Luigi was the first to raise his head.

"You want to know something Tails?"

Tails opened his eyes and uttered, "Hm?"

"I've been thinking about forfeiting."

Tails was taken aback, so stunned that he took a few steps backward.

"W-what? ! Why would you do that- you're even in the lead right now!"

Luigi blew a raspberry. "It's only a matter of time before you catch up again." He then became serious. "But anyway, if I forfeit, then you'll win, and Sonic can get the redemption that he probably deserves at this point."

"No, Luigi!" Tails yelped, shaking his head. "I…I'll forfeit instead! That way, you won't let Mario down, and you'll make him proud! You deserve some praise! I can take the heat from Sonic- he won't be upset forever…"

"How about neither of ya forfeit and get back to playing the old fashion way!" Shy Guy injected once again, this time impatiently tapping his foot. "This has already gone on long enough, and you two having a spot of tea and bit of a chat isn't moving things along any!"

"Leave them alone, Shy Guy!" Cream demanded, literally putting her foot down. "You hardly do anything to make things better, you know!"

"I agree, mate!" Marine added with her arms folded. "If anything, the bloke's done nothing but stir up more trouble, especially in the last match!"

"That doesn't apply here!" replied Shy Guy. He turned to Hammer Bro. "Am I right, here?"

Hammer Bro. turned away. "Don't drag me into this, dude."

Reluctantly carrying on, the ball was rolled to Tails, and the fox was forced to continue with the game. He made a quick pass to Hammer Bro., who told Tails to stay by the edges. Catching on, Tails quickly ran along the quicksand by the electric fence, but not getting too close. Hammer Bro. then proceeded to weave through Shy Guy's defenses and pass to Marine, who was currently trying to get away from Luigi. Luigi dove for the ball, but Marine rolled between his legs and took the ball for herself. She sent it back to Hammer Bro., sending it back to Marine, and forcing the ball to begin glowing white.

"Here it comes, mate!" Marine called, passing to Tails. Tails was able to retrieve the ball, but Shy Guy was right behind him and not giving up.

"You won't be going any farther with that!" he called, fighting to kick the ball away. Tails managed to hide his grin.

"Actually, I think it's you that won't be going much farther."

Being a defense type, Tails veered into the quicksand, which didn't affect him. Shy Guy, being the determined headstrong fool he was, followed Tails right into the obstacle, only to get himself trapped again.

"What? NO!"

Tails almost thought he was home free to run along the edges to reach Daisy, but Koopa was a defense type as well, and he could run along the quicksand just as easily as Tails could. The turtle eventually pulled into his shell and shot himself at Tails. Luckily for Tails, he jumped off the ground at just the right moment, with Koopa throwing himself into the fence.

Tails noticed Luigi coming up from his left out of the corner of his eye, so he hurried to get close to Daisy and faked a kick. Daisy jumped a little to block it, but Tails completely tricked her and kicked the ball upwards.

"Good-bye!" he cried, rocketing upwards after it. The two-tails fox stared glowing yellow, feeling the power of the Mega Strike rush through him. With the ball hovering in front of him, Tails began to spin around several times, causing a frightening tornado to form around him. When he came full circle, his Tails smacked into the ball, and with the added force of the tornado, the ball was forced downwards, splitting into five in the process.

Daisy cracked her neck and crouched low.

The first ball brought a furious wind with it, but that didn't deter Daisy. She easily jumped in front of it and shrugged it off like it was nothing. However, she may have been a touch overconfident, because the next ball blasted by her no problem. Growling, she dove for the next one, but it just missed her fingertips as she reached for it. Now really angry, she performed a back flip, the side of her foot making contact with the fourth one, sending it right back to where it came from. But due to her flip, she was unable to get back on her feet in time to stop the fifth ball.

Thus, the score was tied once again.

. . .

"Ooh, the score is tied, how terribly unpredictable," Shadow uttered sarcastically. "There can never be any other outcome, can there? These things always happen-"

"What're you moping about over there?" growled Wario, on the edge of his seat trying to find out what would happen next. Shadow took one look at the fat man and shook his head in disapproval.

"Hmph. You're easily amused."

"It's really coming down to the wire!" Knuckles exclaimed, sitting on the edge of his seat as well.

Yoshi was in the middle of gulping popcorn by the bagful.

"You can do it, Tails!" yelled Silver, pumping his fists into the air.

"Let's go, Luigi!" Peach called.

"SCREECH!"

"And whatever you do, don't go into overtime!" Junior wailed.

"Tails, lead us to victory!" Sonic boomed, waving his arms around. "Give us the win, buddy!"

"Luigi, it's in the bag!" Mario shouted, gripping his hat. "Bro, make me proud…"

. . .

"I told you that you'd catch up," Luigi deadpanned, his expression to match. Nevertheless, Tails' face mirrored his.

"Guess I did."

A few grains of sand drifted along the light winds as they both glanced at the clock- a very forgiving fifty-five seconds remained, but to the captains, it was much more unforgiving. Since Tails was the last to score a goal, Luigi would be receiving the ball. As it rolled toward the plumber, both captains knew that this would probably be their last round.

The calls of their friends cheering rang loud and clear, but not as prominent as Mario and Sonic. Tails' ears drooped slightly as Luigi felt his stomach do several somersaults. Pushing his turmoil away for now, Luigi passed to Shy Guy, hoping that he'd have a plan in mind.

Unfortunate to say, he did.

"YEE-HAW!"

Shy Guy kicked the ball as hard as he could, and surprisingly it went a long way. Luigi planted his face in his palm as Koopa hurried after the ball headed right for Cream. Being relatively slow, Marine easily beat Koopa to the ball and began to turn it around. The turtle pulled into his shell once again, knocked her legs out from under her, and left the ball wide open for Luigi to claim and shoot.

The ball flew toward the upper right of the net- but so did Cream. She gripped the ball in midair and hurled it down toward Tails, who cartwheeled in front of Koopa and Luigi and retrieved it.

"Now it's a party!" cried Hammer Bro. pulling out his trusty weapons. "I'm throwin' hammers!"

Three hammers went flying in different directions, one hitting Shy Guy, one flying behind him, and one nearly hitting Marine.

"Work on your aim, mate!"

"I promise I wasn't aiming at you," Hammer Bro. admitted, gesturing to the hammer still flying. It eventually circled around and aimed itself right at Daisy. The princess hardly knew what hit her.

"Ow! You're going to pay for that!" she roared. Koopa gulped.

"Oh man, you've awakened her inner rage! Again!"

With the way forward very clear, Tails and Marine powered down the field, hurrying to make a goal before Daisy pulled herself back together. Just as Tails got close enough to angle his kick, Daisy snapped out of it and threw herself to the middle of the net.

The ball bounced off her armor and ricocheted into the air.

Daisy snatched it again, causing Tails, Marine, Shy Guy, and Koopa to cease their running and skid to a stop. Daisy tried to hurl it toward Luigi, who was still on the other side of the field, but her throw didn't go very far.

In fact, it landed smack dab in the middle of the field, where it was unable to roll either way.

Daisy smacked her forehead as Marine was the only one sensible enough to actually go after it, with the clock now ticking down the final twenty seconds.

However, Shy Guy, Hammer Bro., Daisy, Koopa, and Cream were left to gape as their captains suddenly stopped.

In an exact duplication to what the heroes that played before them did, Tails and Luigi activated their super abilities. Tails unleashed his outrageous hurricane, which whipped Shy Guy, Hammer Bro., and Koopa clear out of the way and into the electric fence. In his determination, the hurricane formed around him and pushed his toward the center of the field and the ball.

On the other side, Luigi rested on one knee as he began to grow several times his original size. When he reached maximum capacity, Luigi stomped his foot, sending out a small shockwave. Not wanting to be outdone, Luigi bolted forward, throwing himself at the center as well.

"Well, this should wrap up nicely," grunted Shy Guy, once again head first in the quicksand.

With the slowly whittling time down to less than ten seconds, everyone figured that Tails and Luigi would throw everything they had into one final blow, hoping to make one last shot before time secure their fate forever.

But just before either of them made contact with the ball (which they failed to realized wasn't even in the middle anymore), Tails' hurricane subsided, Luigi's height and strength vanished, and both of them fell to their knees.

Cream's eyes widened in horror.

Hammer Bro., Koopa, and sort of Shy Guy gaped in shock.

Daisy let out a terrified shriek, and Marine, who had just kicked the "missing" ball, jerked her head in the direction of the action.

Or lack of action.

. . .

"Dude, what the heck? !" Junior yelled, jumping up and down angrily. "Why'd they stop? !"

"I guess they're just waiting out the last few seconds," Blaze suggested. "That way, they can go into overtime and have, well, more time!"

"Then why does it look like they're both planning something…?" Mario and Sonic uttered simultaneously.

. . .

Our captains' minds were racing at incomprehensible speeds, neither of them knowing what move to make. One thing was definitely clear- they did not want to go into overtime and prolong the inevitable.

"That does it…"

"I can't take this anymore…"

"I'm ending this right here and now!"

"Enough is enough!"

"I…"

"I…"

"I FORFEIT!"

No sound rang out in all of the Sand Tomb, except for the buzzer, which signaled the end of the tournament.


	12. The Settled Score

Sonic Challenges Mario to a Strikers Tournament!

The Settled Score

"Okay, look, I will show you one…more…time…" Natalie Forever growled, pressing "Play" on the instant replay once again, also in slow motion.

All eighteen captains and all of the sidekicks were gathered in the main lobby of M&S Station, huddled around the rather large flat screen TV with footage of the latest match displayed on it. They watched again as both Tails and Luigi cascaded to the ground, with both of them shouting that they forfeit.

The only problem with this was that it happened literally at exactly the same time.

"See? Same millisecond and everything," Natalie sighed, tossing the remote over her shoulder and strutting away. "Get over it."

"How could you have possibly have ended up in a tie?" Child asked before being thrown into a coughing fit. "When Sonic sent me the requests for Mighty and Marine, he also gave me the layout of the tournament, and it was fail-proof!"

"Well, no one was expecting a last minute forfeit when the stakes were at their absolute highest," Shadow blatantly blurred out, jerking a thumb to Tails and Luigi. Nearly everyone turned and glared daggers at the duo.

"We're sorry!" Tails cried, shaking with guilt.

"Yeah, we never meant any harm," Luigi added, wringing his hat between his fists. "And we really didn't plan on both of us forfeiting, let alone at the same exact time."

"Well, there's no point in getting our quills all up in a bunch," Sonic declared, walking over and leaning next to Tails. "The important thing is that you played well, and that you meant well, so it's all okay!"

"Exactly," agreed Mario, placing a hand on Luigi's shoulder. "And no matter what trouble you cause, mischief you getting into, or things you fumble up, we'll always be proud of you!"

Tails and Luigi beamed at each other, suddenly feeling a little better.

"Yeah, yeah, that's just darn peachy and all," snorted Shy Guy. "But that doesn't solve the problem of who wins this stupid tournament!"

"I refuse to let this be done for nothing!" shouted Boo.

"Someone's gotta win," Charmy stated. "They just hafta!"

"After all the trouble we've gone through…" trailed Espio.

"After all the pain!" exclaimed Birdo, Koopa, and Monty Mole.

"Do you know how long it took for me to get here, mates?" Marine asked, to which Mighty nodded.

"Well, what're we going to do?" Toad asked, turned to Mario and Sonic.

"Randomizer?" Sonic suggested meekly, only for it to be swatted out of his hands.

"No way!" cried Mario. "To some extent, this is your fault!"

"My fault? ! How is it my fault? !"

"You just HAD to go messing with the rules of another world, and now we're reaping the consequences!"

"There was nothing wrong with what I did! Besides, it was like you were changing the rules to your own sport as well, so not only was I not doing anything wrong, this is your fault too!"

"Ugh, stop screaming, you're making my head pound!" Child yelled, rubbing her temples. "Can't you just a flip a coin?"

"No way!" boomed Junior.

"Come on, there has to be something we can use in the playback footage!" Amy exclaimed, picking up the remote and trying to find something.

"Oh, what's the point in that?" complained Waluigi. "We can't go by any point system because everything was tied when those wimps forfeited!"

"Is there nothing that can cleanse us of this misery? !" Yoshi wailed, throwing his hands to the sky.

"Hold on a second…" Child trailed, standing up and making her way to the TV. "Waluigi might've been onto something. "Amy- COUGH! Pause it right there!"

Amy quickly slammed her thumb on the pause button, freezing the screen to the point where Tails and Luigi were just about to collide. Child scratched her head.

"Where was the ball at this point?"

"I might've had it, mate," Marine admitted, looking down at her shoes. "I managed to run up and get it before Tails and Luigi…well, you know."

"What'd you do with it? !" shrieked Silver, grabbing the raccoon and holding her in the air.

"I-I kicked it, but I dunno where it went, mate…"

"And it wasn't captured on the camera?" Junior asked, on the verge of panicking.

"Well, considering there was no one but us observing the match in the Sand Tomb, I'd guess no," Cream muttered innocently.

"What's the point of finding out where the ball was at or not anyway?" Wario questioned.

"I dunno! It'd give us something to work with to figure out this epidemic!" wailed Child. She then slunk to the floor and sneezed violently. Blaze notably scooted away. "I guess there's no way to for us to settle this…"

As everyone fell silent and despaired, the front doors suddenly flew open, and everyone that was gathered in the lobby quickly turned their attention to the one that dared to enter.

"Lakitu? !" Mario declared, most of the others gasping in shock.

"Whoa, I was totally expecting Link or something," admitted Sonic. "But Lakitu works too!"

"What're you doing here?" Child asked. Lakitu, despite being on his cloud, was panting heavily.

"Besides finding a way to get revenge on your sister for stealing my cloud that one time-"

"You'll never take me alive, old man!" Natalie shouted from the second floor. Child facepalmed.

"-I was trying to stop you guys from getting too far! I have critical evidence that could change the outcome of all our lives!"

"They didn't forfeit?" asked Peach.

"We have an extra match after all?" questioned Rouge.

"We're buying a vending machine for the Station? !" Knuckles finished excitedly.

"No, but I'll make a note of it," Child replied writing it down. Lakitu sighed, floated over to the TV, and popped in the DVD containing his critical evidence.

"See, being present at every single sporting event, I eventually started carrying a camera to document everything! And luckily for you, I managed to capture the ball's final whereabouts before the big forfeiting!"

_COLLECTIVE GASP!_

"What'choo waitin' for, man? !" yelped Junior, plopping himself in front of the television. Lakitu chuckled as Amy pushed play on the remote. The entire cast leaned it to watch whatever was about to be revealed.

The screen displayed Marine, who was the only one sensible enough to go after the ball. The rest of the sidekicks just stopped and stared as Tails and Luigi activated their super abilities. Marine glanced around and quickly took off, getting out of the way. However, when Tails and Luigi halted in mid-attack, Marine absent-mindedly kicked the ball away to gape at the unexpected turn of events.

But what had been missed by everyone except for the eye of Lakitu's camera was that the ball had rolled toward Daisy, who was already struck speechless before Marine was.

And the ball rolled unnoticed into the net, just before Tails and Luigi simultaneously forfeited.

Everyone blinked in surprise, with Mario looking thoughtful.

"Huh…so that means the score was 6-5 before the forfeit…"

"Which means Sonic's team would've been in the lead as well," Child said with a sparkle in her eye.

"No! No! Nuh-uh!" shrieked Junior. Shy Guy jumped next to him and started waving around his arms.

"Yeah, you can't use that to declare a win because Tails forfeited his lead!"

"Well, unless both of you can give me one good reason as to why Mario's team should win at this point within a minute, I think I know my verdict."

Shy Guy went to open his mouth.

"And no, not because Mario is definitely the dominant series."

Shy Guy's mouth shut as Sonic made a face.

A minute passed, and Child smiled.

"Well, then. I declare the winner of this Strikers' Tournament to be…none other than Sonic's team!"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, the Chaotix, Marine, and Mighty all celebrated in their own ways, eventually settling with just throwing Sonic into the air.

"YEAH!" cheered Sonic, pumping his fists into the air at the peak of the toss.

"Hmph," Wario grumbled, folding his arms. "No one ever does that for me…"

"You can feel free to object, you know," Omega interrupted, clomping over next to him. "I hardly agree with the small-minded girl's decision, at least what it's based off."

"What else was I supposed to do?" grunted Child. "And who're you callin' small-minded, buddy?"

"Truth be told, I don't really mind that we lost- I'm just glad it's over," Luigi confessed, shrugging. Peach, Daisy, Toad, Wario, Waluigi, Petey, Yoshi, Hammer Bro, Koopa, Birdo, Boo, Dry Bones, and Monty Mole all had to agree.

"Not the outcome I was hoping for, but it could've been worse," Shy Guy huffed, admitted defeat.

"Yeah, whatever, we lost…" Junior sighed. "I blame Mario. He's a baaaad man."

Mario ignored Junior and simply smiled. "No one can deny it was a good tournament. We had our highlights and our downfalls, and in the end, it really wasn't about winning-"

"Oh, ignore him!" Charmy shouted, pushing the plumber to the ground. "We totally won! YES!"

Sonic rolled his eyes and walked over to help Mario up. Mario accepted the hedgehog's help and pulled himself back to his feet.

"Thanks, Sonic."

"Eh, just returning the favor."

"So, now that we're even," Mario began, a grin beginning to take shape. "What's next on our list?"

"Hard to say." Sonic shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at the two groups, momentarily merged into one. "You just never know!"

**Later-**

"Thank goodness that's over," complained Natalie, bringing medicine to Child whose sickness had been reduced to nothing but sniffles. "'Bout time that tournament finished! What's the next torture you're planning for them?"

"I dunno yet," Child admitted, sipping ginger ale. "I've thrown around a couple ideas, but-"

"Well, I hope you're up for suggestions," Natalie interrupted, grinning creepily. Child frowned.

"I'm almost afraid to hear."

"Well, I was just thinking-"

Then, Natalie was interrupted by Knuckles, was coming down the elevator eating a pack of crackers.

"Hey Child! I was just wondering exactly when we're getting that vending machine addition to the Station? The meager refreshments on the Sonic floor just aren't cutting it out for me-"

"Go home, Knuckles."


End file.
